GOVERNMENT OF ORISSA
Department of public enterprises

  

                               IDCOL Cement transferred to ACC: Govt receives 182.02 crores

 

Bhubaneswar 22 December 2003: Orissa's ongoing disinvestment programme today brought in the first sale proceeds for the Government with Associated Cement Companies Limited (ACC) paying the government Rs. 182.02 crores for IDCOL Cement.

 

The share transfer agreement was signed today morning between ACC & IDCOL at a ceremony attended by the Honourable Minister of Public Enterprises & Industry and Honourable Minister for Excise.

 

The Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) had okayed the sale of IDCOL Cement Ltd. to ACC on 2 December 03 for the 86.79% of government share holding in IDCOL.  The sale of shares was for Rs.176. 41 crores while another Rs.5.61 crores has been paid towards unsecured loans of IDCOL.

 

Commenting on the sale, the Minister in charge of the state's disinvestment programme, K V Singhdeo said that the resources mopped up would be utilised to retire debts of IDCOL that would have otherwise had to be paid by the Government. "This will free up government resources for much more important uses in the social sector. Uses like building of roads and other infrastructure, improvement of schools and hospitals etc. " Mr. Singhdeo explained during the signing ceremony.

 

Excise Minsiter Ananada Acharya expressed happiness while welcoming ACC into Orissa and took the opportunity to emphasis that the company should take up peripheral development in and around Bargarh.

 

Mr. M L Narula, Managing Director of ACC signed the deal on behalf of ACC and handed over the bank drafts. Reacting to Honourable Minister for Industries request that the expansion of the plant needs to be expedited, Mr. Narula said that he would scheduled a visit by the exploration and prospecting team immediately. Mr. Narula also mentioned that ACC had a tradition of caring for people and always delivered more than what it promised. He called the process undertaken by the Government of Orissa as 'extremely fair and transparent'.

 

ACC has already arrived at an agreement with Hira Shramik Karmachari Sangh, the only recognised workers union of IDCOL Cement and the agreement signed today ensures that workers will not be retrenched in the next two years.

 

The board of directors of IDCOL cement today after immediately after the signing ceremony, in which the Government nominees resigned and ACC's directors were inducted as the new members.

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