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FACT Chairman quits

A Correspondent

Attributes decision to "purely personal and health reasons"

G.C. Gopala Pillai

Nedumbassery: G.C. Gopala Pillai, who had put in his papers as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT), has attributed his decision to "purely personal and health reasons."

Talking to reporters at the Cochin International Airport on Saturday on his arrival from Delhi after submitting his resignation letter, Mr. Pillai stuck to his statement despite repeated queries by the presspersons as to whether there was any other reason behind his resignation.

He ruled out any difference of opinion with the Fertilizers Minister or "the step-motherly treatment" meted out to the FACT as the reasons behind his decision. "Our relation had been warm and cordial and he was always supportive of FACT," he said.

Mr. Pillai said he had submitted his resignation to the Union Government. He said that he had not discussed his decision to resign with the Minister. He, however, was evasive when asked about the actual date of submission of his resignation letter. "Does dates matter," was his reply.

Asked how his resignation would affect the development plans he himself had announced earlier this month, Mr. Pillai said all developmental plans would go ahead and that "individuals do not matter." He said the projects had received the approval of the Board in principle and were in the stage of submission to the Government.

He said that during his visit to Delhi he discussed the development projects with Fertilizers Secretary J. S. Sharma. He also ruled out a proposed merger plan involving FACT as the reason for his resignation. According to him, he had learnt from the Secretary that no such merger plan was now under consideration.

According to him, the decision was in no way related to the performance of the FACT and expressed satisfaction about his tenure at its top. In this connection he said that the company was able to register a profit of Rs.235 crore in 2005-06 through restructuring compared to the Rs.187 crore loss during the previous fiscal. In the ongoing financial year he expects the loss, if any, to be under Rs.100 crore.

Comeback

Asked whether he was prepared to review his decision to quit, Mr. Pillai said he had, for the time being, submitted the resignation and was not aware whether the Ministry had accepted it or not.

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