The Hindu Business Line : Two NTC units may be spared from joint venture scheme

Revival route
Four applicants have submitted their EOI to run the two Coimbatore NTC units
The process of calling for an open tender for the sale of CS&W's surplus land would be finalised soon

Coimbatore May 14 The joint venture scheme mode of revival prescribed for two of National Textile Corporation (NTC)-owned textile units in Coimbatore has been put on hold by the Centre.

This follows a strong opposition from the combined NTC workers' unions, backed by the Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu, against implementing the joint venture scheme of revival for the two units - the Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Mills (CS&W) and the Sharada Mills, both located in the city.

The union leaders accompanied by the MPs conveyed their opposition to the Union Textile Minister, Mr Shankar Sinh Vaghela, last week were assured by the latter that the two units would be spared from the scheme, the textile trade union sources here said, adding a formal communication from the Government exempting these textile mills from the list of units to be tried under the join venture scheme of revival is expected shortly.

The two units form part of the 18 NTC units identified across the country as viable units whose revival should be tried through the private-public partnership or joint venture scheme. NTC administration too had sought expression of interest (EOI) from firms willing to run these units by setting a cut-off time.

It is learnt that in response to the NTC's earlier notification seeking the EOI from individual firms, four applicants have submitted their EOI to run the two Coimbatore NTC units.

The NTC workers kept resisting the move to hand over the two viable units for the joint venture scheme on the plea that these viable units with a track record in maintaining standard productivity levels could be nurtured back to health. Since the two units though incurred cash losses are fully operating, the timely and suitable modernisation by the NTC administration by pumping its own funds would turn them round through improved productivity.

The two units with a combined spindle capacity of 57,000 are located in prime areas in the city. Of the two, the CS&W has a vast mill land of 26 acres including 20-acre surplus land which the corporation is planning to sell.

Surplus land sale

The process of calling for an open tender for the sale of CS&W's surplus land would be finalised soon, according to reliable sources. Indications are that these lands would be sold in two parcels - a four-acre lot in one and the rest in the other.

NTC has set a Rs 79-crore revival-cum-modernisation scheme for the six textile units in Tamil Nadu to be completed by December 2008.