TCIL disinvestment not shelved by Centre

An official says Urban Development Ministry will try to convince WB govt to allow to sell company along with the land

The Tyre Corporation of India (TCIL) disinvestment, which got stuck due to land hurdles in West Bengal, has not been shelved by the Centre, according to a senior government official.     

Heavy industries and public enterprises secretary Sutanu Behuria said the government in all possibility would go ahead with the divestment whether land lease was available or not.     

"We had sought urban development ministry's assistance and view. They will discuss the matter with the law ministry," Behuria told PTI.

The Urban Development Ministry will try to convince the state government to allow to sell the company along with the land, he said.     

The West Bengal government had wrote to the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) saying the land lease in Kalyani for TCIL stood cancelled because the unit has remained non-operational since August 1992.

In turn, DoD had asked the heavy industries and public enterprises ministry for their view after the state government cancelled the land lease.

The valuation would be better if the company could be sold with land, Behuria said. TCIL has 29 acres of leased land in Kalyani and owns 30.8 acres of land in Kankinara, both in West Bengal.

Three Kolkata-based business groups -- Sanjay Budhia's Patton, Pawan Kumar Ruia-led Ruia Group and Titagarh Group headed by J P Chowdhary -- had been shortlisted for the final bidding for TCIL. The final bidding was originally scheduled to take place in mid-February. However, it got deferred due to the land issue.     

DoD had last year appointed SBI Capital Markets as an adviser to manage the company's sale process.

West Bengal-based TCIL, wholly owned by the Union government, makes automotive tyres and was incorporated in 1984. Its paid-up capital was Rs 29.63 crore as on March 31, 2011. TCIL was declared a sick company in 1992 and was then referred to Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction.