Tata Metaliks Ltd, ahead of its merger with Tata Steel, has taken a hit of Rs 54.7 crore owing to permanent closure of a unit and cleansing of its accounts.

The company said, in a note to its accounts for 2012-13, that it concluded an Rs 10.7-crore settlement deal in March with the employees of its closed one-lakh-tonne pig iron unit at Redi in Maharashtra.

According to the new MD, Sanjiv Paul, provisions have also been made for impairment of the plant assets including land of Rs 45 crore, based on an independent valuation.

Largely as a result of these, TML reported a net loss of Rs 54.54 crore in FY 2013. However, in FY 2012, it had logged a net loss of Rs 90.60 crore.

The company, a subsidiary of Tata Steel, after exhausting its options including sale and iron ore mining to feed the unit, decided to close Redi plant. Last year, it had scrapped an Rs 180-crore agreement to sell the unit to Fomento Resources group on valuation issues.

Meanwhile, TML began the commercial operation at its sinter plant at its Kharagpur facility on April 5 after receiving the “consent to operate” from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board. The sinter plant is expected to improve productivity by 15 per cent.

According to sources, the proposed merger of TML with Tata Steel is significant in the several operational and strategic contexts including a 3 mt-a-year and Rs 15,000 crore project in Haveri district of Karnataka.

Acquisition of land (2,500 acres) has progressed substantially, sources said.

>jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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