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Our Bureau

Hyderabad , Feb. 25

HAVING been appointed the custodian-cum-agents of the ailing Kumar Metallurgical Corporation Ltd's secured assets, Manaksia Ltd, the Rs 1,000-crore Kolkata-based metal products major , is confident of reviving the sick entity at the earliest.

Addressing newsmen here on Wednesday, the Manaksia General Manager (Projects), Mr Kuber Rai, and President of the KMCL unit representing Manaksia, Mr Narendra Khaitan, said the company was planning an upgradation programme at the KMCL unit aimed at an early revival. Appealing to KMCL's workmen to co-operate with the custodian-cum-agents, they assured an early revival of the unit, located at Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, with the KMCL management defaulting on its debt-servicing obligation to the lenders, its total outstanding dues had mounted to Rs 250 crore. Following this, the lenders had filed a suit in the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) here, which ordered KMCL to pay Rs 30 lakh monthly to the lenders, which it later raised to Rs 40 lakh .

According to officials of Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL), which had appointed the custodian-cum-agents, KMCL had violated the DRT orders by defaulting on the payments.

ARCIL, which had taken over KMCL's debt from ICICI Bank and also the consent of other lenders, served notices on the KMCL management under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SRFAESI Act). Under its provisions, ARCIL approached the district magistrate of Nalgonda who took possession of the company's secured assets and handed them over to ARCIL. Subsequently, ARCIL appointed Manaksia as its custodian-cum-agents.

According to Mr Kuber Rai and Mr Narendra Khaitan, Manaksia has assured the workers that the new management intended to run the plant and retain all the required workers and sought their co-operation towards an early revival of the unit.

According to them, the KMCL management had gone in for an appeal against the possession at the DRT. The DRT issued orders against ARCIL in taking possession of the secured assets of the ailing company. Challenging this, ARCIL moved the Debt Recovery Appellate Authority and obtained an ad-interim stay, they said. The next hearing is scheduled for February 28.

Meanwhile, Manaksia has taken up Rs 500-crore greenfield integrated steel plant in Orissa. The first phase of the project with a capacity of 600 tonnes a day, at an estimated outlay of around Rs 200 crore, is slated to take off by the year-end. The second-phase of the project for another 600 tonnes a day would take off in another six months from then, taking the total capacity to 1,200 tonnes a day.

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