Cement Corporation restructuring
Seven shut down units of state-owned Cement Corporation of India (CCI) are planned to be sold off soon to revive three of the remaining plants in Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Himachal Pradesh, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Sontosh Mohan Dev said here Friday.
“The proposal for sale of the seven shut down units of CCI has been approved by the cabinet. We expect to raise Rs.6 billion through sale of the seven units,” the minister said on the sidelines of a meet organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Together with the funds expected to be raised through sale of the sick units, the government has formulated a Rs.18 billion package for the revival and modernisation of the remaining three units - Tandur in Andhra Pradesh, Bokajan in Assam and Rajban in Himachal Pradesh. While Tandur plant is of 1 million tonnes capacity, the other two have production capacity of 198,000 tonnes each.
The restructuring plan for the CCI also includes writing off some of the high-cost debts, official sources said.
In the case of the units to be sold, ministry officials said they have been non-operational for many years due to various reasons mainly financial constraints. Together the seven units have around 300 employees on their rolls.
The success of the ministry in turning around 36 out of 47 public sector enterprises under its care through restructuring and modernisation has encouraged the move for CCI, the minister said. Published under Cement News
