West Bengal's ruling Left Front government is seeking from Britain a Rs 140 crore (Rs 1.4 billion) loan to finance a voluntary retirement scheme in 24 state-run companies.
The state government, which has kept its pink-slip designs under tight wraps, has requested Britain's Department for International Development for the money, a top official in the industrial restructuring department said.
Industrial restructuring department secretary Sunil Mitra last week held a meeting with the managing directors of 24 concerns and conveyed to them the government's plans of reducing staff.
However, the entire money will not be spent on the proposed voluntary retirement scheme alone. A portion of the fund will also be allocated to try and turn some of these units, which are currently in the red, profitable.
The government has decided to hire four consulting agencies to identify the surplus staff in the 24 concerns and also suggest revival strategies for the sick units under a 'business optimisation programme.'
According to industry sources employees numbering 5,500 employees could be reduced.
A standing committee on industry has suggested that these firms should offer VRS to the surplus staff.
Further, the committee has categorised the companies under three heads: "structurally unviable," "unviable enterprise requiring capital investment" and "potentially viable."
Early retirement scheme is likely to be introduced in the first two categories.
