Cabinet approves closure of loss-making Biecco Lawrie

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved closure of Kolkata-based Biecco Lawrie Limited (BLL), after several attempts to revive the loss-making company failed, an official statement said.

The CCEA also approved the proposal to give voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) and voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to the employees of the state-run company.

The company, set up in 1919 as British India Electric Construction Co Ltd, ran four business operations - switchgear manufacturing, electrical repair, projects division, and lube blending and filling facility.

The company has consistently been under financial stress and making losses for the last several years. The accumulated loss at Rs 153.95 crore on March 31, 2018 was higher than its equity, resulting in a negative net worth of Rs 78.88 crore, the government said.

"The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas took various steps for the revival of the company from time to time. However, the company could not be revived. Further, there appeared no possibility of revival of the company considering the competitive business environment as well as huge capital requirement," statement added.

Continued loss has made further operations of the company unviable and also resulted in substantial distress to officials and staff due to uncertain future, the government said.

The idling assets of the company will be put into productive use after meeting all the liabilities in accordance with the extant guidelines of the government, it said.

BLL is a Central Public Sector Enterprise, with 67.33 per cent and 32.33 per cent equity shares held by Oil Industry Development Board and Government of India, respectively. The remainder 0.34 per cent shares are held by others.

--IANS

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