E-Paper
BICL bailed out at last
FINALLY, IT was the buyers of the proposed BICL land for sale who bailed out the British India Corporation Limited, playing a pivotal role in the re-rolling of its revival scheme.
FINALLY, IT was the buyers of the proposed BICL land for sale who bailed out the British India Corporation Limited, playing a pivotal role in the re-rolling of its revival scheme.
The sale of the land was delayed because of a dispute between the Union and State governments over the payment of conversion cost of the proposed leased land into free -hold. This had affected the sale of the land and consequently, enough financial support could not be generated to implement the revival scheme.
Therefore, the BICL was in a fix. The situation worsened when the revival came under question following the show cause notice issued by the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), raising doubts about its closure this year.
All efforts of the Ministry of Textiles and BICL management to sell the land were in vain as the State government did not allow the conversion of the land according to their pleadings.
But the buyers of the land came to the rescue of the BICL and MoT at a time when both were in a tight position. The buyers proposed to bear the excess conversion cost for converting the land from lease-hold to free-hold. The proposal rekindled the hopes of the BICL authorities and the revival process got momentum.
On August 7, joint secretary of MoT Sudipto Roy stated before the BIFR, “ The earlier sanctioned scheme (SS-2002) was to be financed by way of surplus land and assets of the company. The scheme, however, could not take off due to non-receipt of permission from the government of Uttar Pradesh (GOUP) for conversion of lease-hold land to freehold at the above-mentioned rates”. He further stated that there had however, been certain positive developments after the last review hearing held on November 28, 2005. The successful buyers, who had already deposited 25 per cent of the bid amount with the company in 2003, approached the government with the proposal to pay the conversion charges over and above the 1998 circle rates. The proposal was examined by the government and a decision taken at the level of minister, MoT to complete the sale transactions with the condition that the buyer would pay the conversion charges over and above the 1998 circle rates. This decision had expedited completion of the sale process and generation of resources for the implantation of the earlier sanctioned scheme (SS-2002).
Soon after the successful buyers assured to bear the excess charges, the MoT called the meeting of the “Asset Sale Committee” on August 23. The agenda for the sale of land brought before the committee was approved and in the near future, the BICL will be able to complete the long pending sale of its assets.
Talking to Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity, a district revenue official said that if the conversion cost from lease-hold to free-hold was paid to the State government with effect from date for submission of application, then there should not be any problem in converting the land to free-hold.
