The Hindu Business Line : NTC hopeful of mopping up Rs 400 cr from Gujarat land sale

The National Textile Corporation (NTC) hopes to raise around Rs 400 crore by selling land belonging to nine of the 11 closed textile mills in Gujarat and also plans foray into retailing readymade garments in the next two years.

The plan to sell off real estate of unviable and closed mills was approved by the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 2002 so as to run the remaining mills. Accordingly, while land belonging to nine closed textile mills, is up for sale, at least one mill, the 60-year-old Rajnagar Textile Mill of Ahmedabad, was being revived. Its foundation stone was laid by the Union Minister, Mr Shankarsinh Vaghela, here on Sunday.

Confirming the sale of land, Mr K. Ramachandran Pillai, Chairman and Managing Director, told Business Line on Monday that land of many of these mills was unlikely to fetch attractive prices due to their locations. For instance, the tenders that came up on Monday for Himadri Mills quoted only Rs 10.95 crore as price of land.

Raising funds

He added that the funds thus raised from sale would help NTC to tide over the expenditure incurred on revival packages made for sick textile mills across the country. Of 119 textile mills under NTC across India, 67 had closed down over the years and of the remaining 52, only 40 could be described as being in running condition. The land of all 67 closed mills was up for sale and the process was on, he added.

NTC is also planning to open its exclusive readymade garment stores across India in 2008-09. Nearly 100 stores are set to be opened with the objective of generating at least Rs 100 crore per annum from these by targeting the masses.

Meanwhile, the modernisation of 22 mills by NTC in the different States was expected to be completed by March 2008, at a capital investment of Rs 122 crore. Four of these mills, including the Rajnagar Mill are being relocated as a greenfield project.

More Stories on : Sick Units | Textiles | Real Estate & Construction | Gujarat

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page