2 Jct Officials Quit, More May Follow Suit

JCT sources said Paranjpai and Bahadur have put in their papers and gone on leave. Vachher has informed the joint managing director, Samir Thapar, of his decision to quit. He will formally quit next month.

According to sources, three top-level resignations in just over a month will affect the company. All three were long-serving company executives. Their departure will leave crucial posts vacant when the company can't afford it, sources explained.

Paranjpai and Bahadur were part of the company's synthetic fibre division and looked after its technical and marketing operations respectively. Vachher was head of JCT's proposed PTA venture in collaboration Mitsui and Mitsubishi Corp of Japan. The project was later shelved. Sources said the shelving of the project had left Vachher with little to do. As chief executive of business development, his main work was to plan strategic ventures and diversifications.

 

Apart from the PTA venture, JCT was also planning a Rs 600 crore polyester staple fibre (PSF) project. This too was shelved after the company found it difficult to raise funds in last year.

For around two years, Vachher was overseeing the PTA venture, liasoning with the Japanese companies and chalking out strategy. He was also involved in the PSF project. Paranjpai and Bahadur are believed to have quit because of the poor performance of the synthetic fibre division.

Last year the company increased its fibre and yarn capacity to 64,000 tonnes. But in the second half of 1995-96, the market turned bad and prices started falling. The company saw margins plummet and was forced to stop production of PFY and turn to nylon where prices were high.

The poor conditions were reflected in the second half results of 1995-96. Operating profit was down to Rs 7.58 crore from Rs 34.85 crore in first half, and the company posted a net loss of Rs 6.45 crore against first half's figure of Rs 13.01 crore. The two are believed to be joining Reliance Industries in Mumbai, but this could not be confirmed.