No plans yet to revive HEC, Centre tells Lok Sabha

Ranchi: The Union heavy industries ministry on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that it has not prepared any plans for reviving the ailing Heavy Engineering Corporation Limited (HEC). This was in stark contrast to what Union heavy industries minister H D Kumaraswamy, who visited Jharkhand in January, and incumbent Ranchi MP and Union minister for defence, Sanjay Seth, told the workers' union leaders during a meeting.Replying to a question asked by Congress MP Rajeev Ranjan (Pappu Yadav), Union minister of state for heavy industries Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma said HEC is a separate entity as it is registered under the Companies Act. "Therefore, it needs to generate its own resources to make payment of salaries to the employees," Varma said in a written reply in Hindi.When Ranjan asked what concrete steps had been taken for the payment of salaries pending for nearly three years to HEC's employees, Varma said the irregular payment of salaries was due to the acute financial crisis being faced by the company and salaries of four and half months have been paid in the ongoing fiscal. "Currently, cumulative salary dues of workmen, officers and supervisors are for 25 months and 29 months respectively," he said.HEC currently has 2,100 employees and in the 2023-24 financial year, the company registered losses to the tune of Rs 275.45 crores.Leela Dhar Singh, joint general secretary of the Hatia Workers' Union (affiliated to INTUC), said the company's financial crisis was so severe that the management was unable to buy office stationeries. "Last month, in our brief meeting in New Delhi, Kumaraswamy said he would not let the factory shut down. But today's development shows that the Centre is not serious about HEC's future," he told TOI."The company currently has work orders to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore. All we need is a working capital of around Rs 250 crore so that we can finish the orders and collect the payments," another union leader said.