PSUs must reinvent to stay relevant in the current scenario was the central theme of the various discussions and speeches at the Governance Now PSU award 2014 function held on November 7 in Delhi.

The second edition of the awards by the magazine, part of Sri Adhikari Brothers Group or SAB TV group, was organised in partnership with Standing Conference of Public Sector Enterprises (SCOPE) and the Indian Social Responsibility Network, ISRN to recognise excellence in public sector undertakings (PSUs).

Addressing the gathering, chief guest Kalraj Mishra, union minister of micro, small & medium enterprises, said, “During insurgency and in troubled areas (Maoist/separatist-affected); it was the PSUs that had made inroads. But they are dealing with the problem of perception today. It is widely believed that everything related to government is not very productive.”

Guest of honor Ram Vilas Paswan, union minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, director-general, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini and national vice-president of BJP also stressed the need for overhaul of the manufacturing sector in the country. Paswan said PSUs could play a greater role in making prime minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign a success.
The inaugural session was addressed by UD Choubey, director general, SCOPE, Laveesh Bhandari, chief economist, Indicus Analytics and Ashish Kumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, BSE Limited.

The inaugural session was followed by the panel discussion on ‘unlocking the potential of PSUs’. Lauding the government’s effort to privatise sick companies Ajay Dua, former secretary, ministry of industry & commerce, said, “These companies could not have been revived if they remained under the government.”

RK Tyagi, chairman, HAL said privatization of companies without ceding management control isn’t the best way to privatise.

The other panelists were RG Rajan, CMD, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd; M Narendra, former CMD Indian Overseas Bank and Kishalay Bhattacharya, national business head for government and PSU and business head at Alliances of Ricoh India.

The awards were anchored by the Institute for Competitiveness. The final list of awardees was selected by a jury led by Anurag Goel, member of Competition Commission of India.

A total of 31 awards were given to 22 public sector enterprises across maharatnas, navratnas and miniratnas. The CPSEs were awarded for strategic performance, human resource utilization, asset utilization, growth and competitiveness, strategic turnaround, IT adoption, CSR initiative, innovation and HR practices (training).

The winners
STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE
Maharatna: Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd
Navratna: National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd
Miniratna Class I: National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd
Miniratna Class II: FCI Aravali Gypsum & Minerals India Ltd
 
HUMAN RESOURCE UTILISATION
Maharatna: NTPC Ltd
Navratna: National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd
Miniratna Class I: Numaligarh Refinery Ltd
Miniratna Class II: FCI Aravali Gypsum & Minerals India Ltd
 
ASSET UTILISATION
Maharatna: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd
Navratna: National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd
Miniratna Class I: Numaligarh Refinery Ltd
Miniratna Class II: Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Ltd
 
GROWTH & COMPETITIVENESS
Maharatna: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd
Navratna: Power Finance Corporation Ltd
Miniratna Class I: Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd
Miniratna Class II: National Small Industries Corporation Ltd
 
STRATEGIC TURNAROUND
Maharatna: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
Navratna: Oil India Ltd
Miniratna Class I: Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd
Miniratna Class II: Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd
 
IT ADOPTION
Maharatna: SAIL
Navratna: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
Miniratna Class I: Railtel Corporation of India Ltd
 
CSR INITIATIVE
Maharatna: Coal India Limited
Navratna: National Aluminum Company Ltd
Miniratna Class I: Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd
 
INNOVATION
Maharatna: Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd
Navratna: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
 
HR PRACTICES (TRAINING)
Maharatna: SAIL
Navratna: Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd
Miniratna Class I: Railtel Corporation of India Ltd