Maytas Infra to rework revamp plan

The new board at Maytas Infra Ltd, promoted by the family of scam-hit Satyam Computer Services founder B Ramalinga Raju, has asked the company’s chief financial officer (CFO) to work out the financial plan for 2009-10 in 7-10 days.

“I held discussions with the company’s lenders and promoters and asked the CFO to work out the plan in consultation with bankers,” former Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) president and member of the government-appointed board, Ved Jain, told Business Standard.

Jain chaired the Maytas board meeting here on Thursday and reviewed the operations of the company’s construction and build-operate-transfer (BOT) business, and the proposal for corporate restructuring (CDR). He said the company had orders worth over Rs 800 crore.

Maytas Infra Vice-Chairman B Teja Raju stated the board had accepted the resignation of the company’s independent director, RP Raju.

“The CDR is on but it is a fairly complicated process. Anyhow, we are making progress on that,” said taxation lawyer and another government-appointed board member OP Vaish, adding that it would be premature to make any statement in this regard.

The new members, according to Vaish, are working on how to create liquidity in the company. “Efforts are on, but there is no quick and easy way to do this.”

Vaish said they were expecting the government to induct two more members on the board in the next few days, according to the orders of the Company Law Board.

The board would meet soon after the induction of two new members and will be meeting frequently. “Our effort would be to fill the gaps that have arisen, in the circumstances, in the overall management of the company,” he said.

Last week, the board had ruled out prospects of Maytas Infra seeking a suitor to bail it out, though it acknowledged that the company’s credibility took a beating after Ramalinga Raju confessed to fudging of accounts. The company, which bagged the Rs 12,132-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail project as head of a consortium, failed to achieve financial closure for the project according to schedule on March 17, and has sought an extension.

Jain, however, said the project was not discussed during Thursday’s board meeting. “Our immediate priority is the business plan for 2009-10,” he added.

Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd Chairman CVSK Sarma said the government was examining the request for extension.

Maytas had also sought time to announce its third-quarter results. Its income was Rs 354 crore on September 30, 2008, and net profit was Rs 17 crore. The company has Rs 120 crore unused of the total Rs 327.5 crore it raised through a public offering. It spent Rs 138 crore on purchase of equipment and meeting other corporate expenses, and invested Rs 69.6 crore in associate companies.