Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday handed over orders for 1,250 wagons to two sick units that are now under the control of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) as part of their financial restructuring.
The administrative control of Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Ltd (BBUNL) subsidiaries – Burn Standard Company Ltd (BSCL) and Braithwaite & Co Ltd (BCL) – was transferred to SAIL, along with a unit at Salem in Tamil Nadu.
Banerjee gave orders for 500 wagons to the BSCL and 750 wagons to the BCL.
On June 10, the union government had said it was transferring the sick units of BBUNL to the railways and the SAIL.
It said loans would be provided to these units to get them up and running.
The BSCL has two wagon-manufacturing units in Howrah and Burnpur and the BCL has three such units in West Bengal.
‘Along with the wagons I am giving orders of 15 cranes to Braithwaite,’ Banerjee said.
She emphasised that it was not an easy task to take the onus of these sick companies.
Talking about BSCL, Banerjee said her department had a discussion with the finance ministry about pumping in Rs.30 crore working capital into the company.
She said she plans to place an order for new kinds of bogies with BSCL, for which the technical know-how is being imported. These special bogies would be used for the eastern and western dedicated freight corridors.
