The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction has constituted an assets sale committee for selling off Cement Corporation of India as a whole or in parts after declaring it sick, Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

"CCI has been declared sick by the BIFR. The BIFR has directed the operating agency Industrial Finance Corporation of India to process the sale of CCI as a whole, or its plants individually or collectively," Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Subodh Mohite said in a written reply.

However, on whether it has been decided to bifurcate CCI's profit-earning Bokajan unit and float it as a separate public sector company, the minister said no such decision has been taken.

He said the government has constituted a group of ministers, under the chairmanship of deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, to suggest ways and means to liquidate the outstanding dues to the employees of central PSUs.

On whether the Indian shipping companies suffered losses as a result of the SARS outbreak, Shipping Minister D M Gandhi replied in the negative.