Date for UP sugar mills bid extended

The ailing Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation mills may have no buyers except Gammon. Four initial suitors are now shying away from the process of buying them.

The four companies, which had filed expression of interests (EoIs), for these mills again failed to submit financial bids today.

Five companies -- Gammon, Dalmia, Era, Chaddha and Noida-based Uflex -- had submitted EoIs as per the modified terms and conditions in July this year for the units.

The companies were later asked to submit their financial bids. However, till the earlier last date of September 8, only Gammon had submitted its financial bid. The state government later extended the date to September 16; however, it drew a blank today.

Now, the government has extended the date to September 22.

A senior official of a company that had filed the EoIs told Business Standard that they had conducted the due diligence, but it did not turn out to be “winning proposition”.

“The terms and conditions do not suit us…had the individual mills been put on the block instead of a complete package, we would have been interested,” he added.

Indian Sugar Mills Association Secretary C B Patodia said the sugar sector was passing through a bad phase.