 "Balbir")
Unlike other National Spot Exchange (NSEL) clients with pay-in dues, the offices of Chandigarh-based LOIL Foods Ltd, LOIL Health Foods Ltd, LOIL Continental Foods Ltd are located in the heart of the city, at least the list released by the exchange said so. It also showed that these companies owed a little over Rs 757 crore between them for their positions in paddy stocks.
Business Standard checks on the spot revealed that the address given by the three companies i.e SCO 18-19, Ist floor, Sector 9-D, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh, - 160017, was the corporate office of Lakshmi Energy and Foods Ltd. There were no signages displaying the names of the three companies we were looking for.
‘LOIL' the common term in the three companies is short for Lakshmi Overseas Industries Ltd. Lakshmi Overseas Industries Limited, was promoted by S. Balbir Singh Uppal about two decades ago. for setting up an integrated paddy, sunflower and vegetable oil seeds processing unit. Uppal said, “I don’t want to talk about this.”
Aged around 64, Uppal originally hails from Chabhal, a small village in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. He started his career as a stakeholder in one of the rice mill in Tarn Taran. Thereafter, he moved to Khamanon village, district Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab and set up a rice mill there. From a small rice mill in 1981, he raised it to be the largest rice processing mill in the sub-continent.
Top sources mentioned that this was achieved because of his strong leadership qualities and very good contacts in political circles. He is said to be close to both the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP coalition government and the Congress. Though Uppal has hardly completed schooling, he is said to be streetsmart and is quick .
In 1994, LOIL took over Lakshmi Rice Mills, a partnership concern, which had interests in rice shelling. In 2006, Lakshmi Overseas Industries was renamed as Lakshmi Energy & Foods.
According to insiders, initially the company was incorporated under the name of Lakshmi Grain Processors Private Limited. The Company was converted into Public Limited Company in 1993 and consequently the name was changed to Lakshmi Grain Processors (India) Ltd., Further the company got its new name i.e. Lakshmi Overseas Industries Ltd(LOIL). vide fresh Certificate of Incorporation issued by Register of Companies, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh & Chandigarh at Jalandhar in 1994.
The website of Lakshmi Energy mentions the firm as one of the largest producers of rice in the world, since 1981. The company's plant, one of the largest and most modern paddy processing units in the world, is spread across 125 acres and situated along the scenic Chandigarh-Ludhiana National Highway, at Khamanon (Punjab).
An employee of Lakshmi Energy and Foods Ltd informed that the none of the officials of these three (defaulting) companies sat there. She added the city office was larget used for meetings. “I don’t know much about the concerned officials, they would be sitting at our administrative office and works at Chandigarh-Ludhiana National Highway, Khamanon in Punjab.” When asked about the last meeting that took place, she mentioned that she didn’t have any idea.
According to ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), LOIL Foods Ltd and LOIL Health Foods Ltd were incorporated on December 15, 1999. While LOIL Continental Foods Ltd were incorporated in August 6, 1999. All these companies were formed with the authorised capital of Rs. 1 crore.
Aditya Jain, Exports Head, Lakshmi Energy and Foods said he did not know anything about the company and mentioned that he joined only six months back. Similarly, the company secretary Ajay K Ratra said that he will get back when asked about the concerned official of all these defaulting companies, but stopped picking call after that.
LEAF has more than 1 Million MT per annum paddy processing capacity complemented by a well spread out storage capacity of over 300,000 MT, which is being expanded further by around 1000,000 MT by building modern warehouses. The company also has its own logistics and handling set up, including a full fledged transport division with over 50 wide-bodied trucks, and the fleet would be increased to 100 trucks in near future.
