Dispur making last-ditch effort to revive HPC mills in State

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Dispur hasn't fully abandoned its efforts to revive the HPC (Hindustan Paper Corporation) mills in Assam. As a last-ditch effort, it has requested the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) through liquidator Kuldeep Verma to give it two-month time to take up the matter with the Centre afresh. The NCLT has also agreed to it, in principle.

The point is: How will the government revive the paper mill? According to official sources, the State government is banking on two options – if the Centre agrees, it may revive the mills with a Central package. If this option fails, the employees of the mills should be relieved after paying them their dues. In that case, the government can use the landed property of the mills for other purposes like logistic parks.

According official sources, the prospect of private companies evincing interest to run the paper mills is very slim. This is because the accumulated liabilities of the paper mills are to the tune of Rs 3,500 crore. On the contrary, the total assets of the paper mills, including their landed property, are valued at Rs 2,000 crore. For any private company, investing funds in such a venture with a huge standing liability is tantamount to misadventure.

According to official sources, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Industries Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary recently met to discuss the revival issue of the two HPC mills. They decided to approach the Prime Minister, Union Finance Minister and the Heavy Industries Minister seeking a Central package for revival of these mills.

In the recent past, the Centre was almost ready with a package of Rs 2,000 crore for revival of the Nagaon Paper Mill. However, the move failed to materialize when the case of the mill slipped into the NCLT.

On the other hand, the ground reality tells an altogether different story. How the ageing machineries of the mills (30-35 years old) lying idle for about three years will work is a million dollar question. This is not all. The raw materials (bamboo) to run the mills are scarce now. Why doesn't the State government approach the Centre with the plea of giving the employees of the two paper mills golden handshake under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) that will cost around Rs 700 crore? The State government can think later for what purposes the landed property of the two paper mills can be utilized.

It is imperative on the part of the Centre to put an end to the lingering issue and take the final decision at the earliest.

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