India privatizations face elec essays

India privatizations face elec essays NEW DELHI: Privatisations in India, already hindered by strong opposition from labor unions and political parties, will most likely slow down ahead of state elections this fall, said a senior economist at the Institute for Economic Growth. Privatisation is a thorny election issue. I doubt politicians will do anything in a hurry now, B.B. Bhattacharya, the Institutes director, told Dow Jones Newswires in a He noted that politicians banking on the votes of labourers employed in around 230 state companies are unlikely to risk public disapproval in the run-up to the elections for provincial legislatures in October or November. The government intends to sell around 30 of these companies in the current financial year ending March 31, 2004. It expects several others to be put on the auction block after the Disinvestment Commission makes a judgment on their commercial viability as state companies. As many state firms are usually costly and overstaffed, private investors looking to increase productivity and maximize profit will naturally want to cut down the companys payroll. Bhattacharya, who has served as a technical consultant to the World Bank, said: When industries are privatized, investors cut the wages and rationalize the pay structure. The fear of job losses has led labor unions to protest the sale of state-run companies. In October last year, employees of aluminum company National Aluminium Co., or Nalco, prevented executives of a potential private sector buyer, Hindalco Industries Ltd, from inspecting Nalcos factories in the southeastern Orissa state. This has stalled the due diligence of Nalcos privatization. Trade unions in state-run oil companies went on a three-day strike in March this year. The National United Forum, an umbrella organization representing union workers in most state enterprises, has also threatened to go o ...