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The liquidation of Moser Baer ’s assets has brought some cheer to the company’s employees. While it has managed to settle about ₹100 crore, another ₹50 crore remains to be paid, as claimed by the employees.
According to Anil Kohli, the official liquidator for Moser Baer, ₹100 crore has been paid to workmen out of the total ₹325 crore recovered from the liquidation. The entire provident fund (PF), gratuity and salaries for the insolvency resolution period of ten-and-a-half months has been paid despite the plant being closed all that time.
But the pre-Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) dues that workers are eligible for under the Workmen’s Compensation Act have not been cleared. This would be equal to two-and-a-half months’ pay, from August 1 to November 13, 2017, said Swarnendu Chatterjee, an advocate representing the Moser Baer Karamchari Union. The amount is close to ₹16 crore.
Debt-ridden Moser Baer India Ltd (MBIL) was referred for liquidation by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. Against a total creditors’ claim of ₹4,828 crore, the liquidation value came up to just ₹334 crore and workers were eligible to get their dues from the company in proportion.
The Moser Baer Karamchari Union had moved Supreme Court to exclude the amount due to them towards PF, pension and gratuity fund from the waterfall mechanism under Section 53 of the IBC. Their plea was upheld and employees were to be paid full compensation from the amount recovered after liquidation.
Main bidders
Workers had laid siege to the factory premises of MBIL and refused to allow any resolution of the asset until they were assured payment of their dues was being made. “The resolution could go ahead after the employees were taken into confidence. The factory premise where compact disc and storage devices were made is optimum for electronic manufacturing. GreatValue builders has bid an amount of ₹225 crore . The other major asset liquidated is land that was bid for by Galaxy Builders for ₹72 crore,” said Kohli, the liquidator.
“We are now in the process of recovering more assets that have been lent by MBIL to its subsidiaries which are also undergoing liquidation,” he added.
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