CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday fixed November 15 for deciding State government’s plea for permanent stay of winding up of state-owned Orissa Textile Mills (OTM) at Choudwar which was closed 31 years ago.
Justice Arindam Sinha fixed the date after the Official Liquidator informed the court that the State government has deposited Rs 115 crore in addition to the Rs 35 crore deposited earlier. On August 2, the State government had stated before the Court that it would no longer pursue the sale of the assets of OTM. Instead, the Handlooms Textiles and Handicraft department is ready to put in Rs 150 crore for obtaining permanent stay on winding up of the company.
Justice Sinha allowed claimants of pending payments from OTM to submit their claims to the Office of Liquidator before the next date of hearing. The Office of the Liquidator had earlier filed an affidavit indicating that the total dues that remain to be cleared by the State government was Rs 147.67 crore, while Rs 97 crore and Rs 20.30 crore of it were dues of employees and Provident Fund respectively.
The liquidation process of OTM was started under the Company Judge of the High Court in March 2002 after the State government filed a petition for it after closing the unit in June 2001. The court had recalled the order for fresh auction of the company along with its assets on June 28, 2022 after several attempts to auction it off failed over the decades.
OTM was declared a sick industrial company by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 1993. BIFR recommended a Rs 37.22 crore revival and modernisation package for the mill in 1998. But the government opted to declare closure of the mill when its worth went in the negative with accumulated loss of over Rs 100 crore and liabilities well over Rs 40 crore.