Kerala - Alappuzha   

KSTC set to run Kerala Spinners

ALAPPUZHA: The State government on Monday took over Kerala Spinners, a joint sector spinning mill shut down in 2003 after it ran into losses.

Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac handed over the keys of the firm to Kerala State Textile Corporation (KSTC) Chairman P. Nandakumar and Managing Director M. Ganesh with the KSTC slated to run the show from now on. Dr. Isaac said the event marked a new start as private-run institutions are seldom taken over by the State after being in red.

Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) were being turned into profit-making units by the Left Democratic Front government, he said. Announcing that the government would open a new public sector mill on the premises, Dr. Isaac said the government was also preparing to file a case against the management of the firm, which had deserted the employees and refused to open the mill despite several efforts by the government. Their assets on the factory premises had already been frozen.

The Minister also said the Excel Glass Factory in Alappuzha, which had been staying shut for over 500 days now, would be reopened soon. The government had warned the owner that he would not be able to run his other businesses or transactions with the government if the factory was not re-opened. The Roads and Bridges Corporation too was being given an opportunity for comeback, with the government paying off its dues worth Rs.75 crore to HUDCO, apart from increasing its (the government’s) share capital in the corporation from Rs.10 crore to Rs.50 crore.

A loan of Rs.500 crore from HUDCO was also being arranged so that the corporation could complete all pending projects in the next one year, he added.

Industries Minister Elamaram Karim, presiding over the function, said new equipment would be purchased for the spinning mill and the existing ones repaired. An initial estimate suggested that Rs.11.9 crore would be required for re-opening and running the company, the Minister added.

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