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Anna Peter

Mumbai , March 25

THE National Textile Corporation, which on Thursday received a bid of Rs 276 crore for its Jupiter Mills property in Central Mumbai, is hoping that the sale will get its process of rehabilitation and redevelopment under way.

According to Mr V.K. Tripathi, Managing Director, National Textile Corporation (South Maharashtra), the fate of 13,000 textile workers in Maharashtra would depend on the sale of the five unviable mills.

He added that the funds received would be used to retire debt of about Rs 2,000 crore that was incurred to pay a VRS to 14,000 workers earlier and settle dues with financial institutions and non-performing assets.

Mr Tripathi added that the corporation had paid these workers an average of Rs 4-5 lakh as VRS dues and this amounted to a `double VRS' considering that private players had paid their workers much less. NTC had spent Rs 600 crore towards VRS.

NTC proposes to sell five mills in Mumbai, which roughly account for 50-55 acres. The modernisation of nine mills will cost the corporation Rs 600 crore.

The brouhaha surrounding the division of mill land had worsened the health of the corporation, he said. The interest payment alone on its Rs 2,000 crore debt is Rs 170 crore annually. This was not only delaying modernisation but also creating doubt over whether many of the viable mills could be saved at all.

According to the BIFR blueprint for the NTC-South Maharashtra, the five mill lands should have been sold in 2004, but since the process has been delayed the corporation asked the board to give it a year's extension. However, only one mill has been sold since and considering the hurdles thus far it may be a while before it sells the others.

He added that in the last month alone, there had been 5-6 legal motions trying to stall the sale. Further, the clearance for selling its property had been delayed by the BMC as well - its application was submitted in May 2003 and only cleared in October 2004, he said.

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