Govt plans outright sale of CCI's 4 non-operational units

Sale of these units expected to fetch over Rs 1,300 crore

The government has proposed outright sale of 4 non-operating units of Cement Corporation of India (CCI) which may fetch over Rs 1,300 crore.

CCI, which was set up in 1965, comes under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. The government has 100% shareholding in the public sector unit.

In total, the company has 10 units out of which 7 are non-functional.

"CCI has started the sale process as it has invited expression of interest for outright sale of 4 non-operational units. The sale would be done through an e-auction process," an official told PTI.

Some of these units are located in prime locations like Karnataka and Chattisgarh. Therefore, a number of private players has evinced interest in taking them over, he added.

These four units are Akaltara unit in Chattisgarh, Kurkunta unit in Karnataka, Mandhar unit in Chattisgarh and Nayagaon unit in Madhya Pradesh.

SBI Caps has been appointed as the merchant banker for this purpose.

"The sale of these units is expected to fetch an estimated over Rs 1,300 crore. A part of these funds would also be used for strengthening CCI's functioning units," the official said.

To expedite the sale process, the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) had constituted the Assets Sale Committee.

"These four units are intended to be sold on 'as is where is' basis, without any existing liability and with no restriction on post sale use," the official said.

These companies have mineral reserves which are sufficient for useful life of the plants for manufacturing of cement and also have basic infrastructure and land in prime location, he said.

"It will be a boon for existing cement manufacturers to enhance their production capacity by purchasing these units. The locational advantage of these units will also attract real estate and other investors to sell land for industrial or residential purposes," he added.

CCI's corporate office is based in Delhi. The company employs 909 employees -- executives 124 and non-executives 785 -- as on March 31, 2012.

Presently, CCI is engaged in manufacturing of cement through its three units located in Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

During 2012-13, the company's net profit declined sharply by about 59% to Rs 8 crore compared to Rs 19.43 crore in the previous fiscal.