Principles, Performance, Profile and Privatisation of Public Enterprises in India

Contents: Acknowledgement. Preface. I: 1. Introduction. 2. The concept of public enterprise. 3. Public enterprise: its evolution. 4. Public enterprise: dimensions, role, objectives. 5. Public enterprises in a developing economy. 6. Organisational forms and management autonomy. 7. Political economy of public enterprise. II: 8. Concepts and methodology--outline of relationships. 9. Performance profile--operational efficiency. III: 10. Performance profile--profitability. 11. Returns on owners\' equity. IV: 12. Capital structure--conceptual framework. 13. Capital structure--SAIL and TSL. 14. Working capital--conceptual framework. 15. Working capital--SAIL and TSL. V: 16. Concluding observations. 17. Privatisation of public enterprises in India. Epilogue. Index.

"Since the eighties of the last century, Public Enterprise (PE) has come under sharp criticism on grounds of their poor performance standard resulting in a continuous and heavy drainage of government funds. It has been argued that the results of the PEs should be justiciable, and they must renew the lease of their lives in the economy in terms of financial viability, their social service and non-economic objectives notwithstanding. Alternatively, they should be freed from discharge of discriminative social functions and obligations as compared to Private Enterprise (PrE) so that their performance correctly reflect their efficiency. Demands have also been raised for privatisation of PEs.

It is the opinion of the present researcher that mere exercises in the abstract plane--not backed by case studies of individual enterprises--would be devoid of substance. Such evaluation would also lack objectivity.

This book attempts to conceptualise the principles of PE in all its aspects, undertakes to analyse the performance profile of PE as compared to PrE on empirical basis on selected parameters by considering two representative enterprises, notes down concluding observations and suggests reorganization of the PE. Finally it deals with the issue of privatisation of PE on economic basis, freed from ideological considerations.

Social justice and uplifting of backward sections of people should not be heaped on enterprise function, they should be provided for through budgetary and other direct measures. The prefix \'public\' to enterprise is a contradiction in term and mutually incompatible." (jacket)