Kesoram, Century to extend lifeline

Century Textiles and Kesoram Industries, both belonging to the fabrics-to-cement BK Birla group, will provide Rs 120 crore to sick group company Mangalam Cement to help it repay loans and escape the clutches of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).  Top group sources told ET news sources that the money would most probably be through a soft loan at low interest rates or a quasi-equity issue, which would be recovered later. "We are working on it. Century and Kesoram will both provide funds in a 50:50 ratio," sources added.

The BK Birla group has been trying to find a buyer for Mangalam Cement, which has a 1m tonne cement plant in Kota, Rajasthan.
Global cement giants such as Cemex and Lafarge were interested and had visited the plant. But a deal could not be struck due to differences in valuation.