Public sector undertakings in Kerala

Public sector undertakings in Kerala are of two types, public sector units in which majority shares are owned by Union Government and public sector units in which majority shares are owned by State Government. Public sector undertakings in Kerala,^[1][2] i.e. enterprises in which majority shareholder is Government of Kerala are generally divided into Manufacturing & Non-Manufacturing. Some of the PSUs such as Kinfra, KSIDC, SIDCO etc. are promotional agencies.^[3] As of 2004 there were 104 enterprises spread over 14 different sectors of Kerala economy. These sectors are as varied as engineering, electronics to wood products & welfare agencies. Eleven units are joint venture of Kerala government with the central government. Most of state PSUs units are under Department of Industries & Commerce (85 enterprises).

The largest enterprises^[4] (Based on 2005 figures)

In 2002, it was reported that Kerala government have chosen to either restructure or close the loss-making enterprises and has no plan for privatisation.^[5] As per CAG report for 2008-2009, Kerala PSUs lack accountability, and needs improvement for imbibing professionalism and efficiency. It showed an incurred loss of ₹589 crore. Losses in PSUs were attributed to poor financial management, planning, implementation of projects, running of operations and monitoring.^[6] In 2012–13, out of the 78 PSUs which had finalised their accounts during that fiscal year, 45 PSUs earned a total profit of ₹666.86 crore and 31 PSUs incurred loss of ₹607.34 crore, as per CAG report. Kerala State Beverages Corporation was the most profit making PSU, while the Kerala State Electricity Board incurred an operational loss of ₹3,758.17 crore.^[7]

In a 2016 study, Kochi-based think tank Centre for Public Policy and Research stated that Kerala government should take a cue from the disinvestment process initiated at the Centre and initiate it at the State level, as Kerala has the case of large number of PSUs in the state that were closed, as they were not able to withstand the competition in the market.^[8] During the fiscal year 2016-2017, PSUs in Kerala incurred a net loss of ₹80.67 crore. According to Kerala's state industrial department, the PSUs had a combined net profit of ₹106.91 crore in 2017-2018; there were total 42 PSUs.^[9] In 2018–19, 17 PSUs had registered operational profit, according to the state industrial department.^[10] For the fiscal year 2020-21, the annual review report by the Bureau of Public Enterprises calculated a total net loss of ₹6,055.47 crore from public enterprises in the state. Among these, 63 enterprises were loss-making, while 50 managed to make a profit. Top 10 loss-making enterprises together contributed to 95.39 percent of the total losses. KSRTC topped with a loss of ₹1,976.03 crore which was 30.08% of the total loss, KSEB came second with a loss of ₹1,822.35 crore, representing 27.74% of the total loss, and Kerala State Beverages Corporation came third with a loss of ₹1,608.17 crore, accounting 24.48 percent of total loss.^[11]