The Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the sale of four pharmaceutical company, which includes India's first pharmaceutical firm Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceuticals (BCPL).
The three other public sector pharma firms include Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL) and Rajasthan Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Limited (RDPL). "The option of strategic sale will be explored for HAL and BCPL," the government said in a statement.
Also read: Post demonetisation, sale of old notes leads to jump in sales of drugs.
The government will sell the surplus land of Bengal Chemicals, Hindustan Antibiotics and the two other pharma companies. The proposal of selling the four pharma companies was made to meet the outstanding liabilities of the firms. "In this way, the national assets would be utilised in the best national interest," the government added.
The sale would be through open competitive bidding to government agencies. In the public sector undertakings, Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) will also be implemented.
After meeting the liabilities, steps will be taken to close IDPL and RDPL.
India's first pharma company, Bengal Chemicals, was established in 1901 by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy government. It was nationalised in 1980. The strategic sale of Bengal Chemicals and Hindustan Antibiotics is the second strategic sale after a time gap of 12 years, Press Trust of India reported.
