Cabinet decides to close ET&T

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 23. The Union Cabinet today revised the bonus for Railway employees, calculating it at 54 days, up from the present 51 days. The Cabinet also decided to wind up the Electronics Trade and Technology Development Corporation (ET&T) and lower the retirement age for National Textile Corporation (NTC) employees from 60 to 58 years.

Announcing this, the Information Technology Minister, and the Cabinet spokesperson, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, said the higher bonus for railwaymen followed a revision of the formula for calculating it. The new formula would be implemented with retrospective effect, from 1998-99.

The highlight of the new formula was that it would also take into account the suburban passenger traffic and the staff strength of all group C, D and B non-gazetted employees. At present, only openline staff strength was accounted for. It would also give greater weightage for non-suburban passenger traffic.

The ET&T was being wound up as it had been continuously incurring losses since 1992-93. Its liabilities, as on March 31 this year, stood at Rs. 44.53 crores, excluding an interest component of Rs. 72.87 crores. The Finance Ministry would provide a budgetary support of Rs. 8.47 crores for a voluntary separation scheme for the staff. The company had a staff strength of 288.

As regards the lowering of the retirement age of NTC employees, Mr. Mahajan said it would be applicable to both Board and below Board employees and was expected to cut down the wage bill by about Rs. 62 crores per annum.

The Cabinet also decided to promulgate an ordinance to enable the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to issue bonds and debentures, in the wake of the announcement in the Budget to exempt such bonds from

capital gains tax. As per the Finance Act, 2000, tax exemption would be available for only six months which expires on September 30. But, NABARD had not been able to issue bonds so far as the existing legislation governing it did not provide for it.

In addition, the Cabinet approved of a joint venture proposal between the Railway Ministry and Gujarat Pipavav Limited for converting the rail link between Surendranagar and Rajula in Gujarat into a broad gauge and laying a 14 km line from Rajula to Pipavav, where the country's first private port has come up. The project's estimated cost is Rs. 249 crores. The Railways and Gujarat Pipavav would each hold 50 per cent of the equity.

It further cleared a proposal of Telecommunications Consultant India Limited (TCIL) to form a joint venture with Air Tel Communications Kenya Limited for operating basic telecom services in Kenya. The TCIL would invest $ 21.9 million in the company and hold 30 per cent equity.

The Cabinet also approved the exchange of letters with Bangladesh to indicate India's support for a cement project being put up by the French firm, Lafarge Surma, in Bangladesh.

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