One-time special industrial closure scheme for MCCL employees
Shillong, Sep 13: The state government has decided on a one-time special industrial closure scheme for employees of Mawmluh Cherra Cements Limited (MCCL).
Informing this, Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Commercial & Industries Sniawbhalang Dhar said there is no proposal for privatisation of MCCL, following a proposal for joint venture did not materialise as no suitable partner was found.
Meanwhile, the minister made it clear that MCCL’s revival is not feasible due to environmental, financial and operational constraints.
“On December 9, 2024, the government approved a one-time special industrial closure with cut-off date of December 31, 2024 for the employees and duly implemented. The due settlement amounts to Rs 83.71 crore,” Dhar said in reply to a query in the Assembly on Friday.
The scheme was launched to ensure a fair compensation to employees and stakeholders with an aim to mitigate the hardships caused to them due to the plant’s closure, he said.
He said the closure package to settle the liabilities of the suppliers and contractors amounts to Rs 7.73 crore and Rs 6.81 crore to settle the outstanding payments to ex-employees.
The lease with the state government was valid up to November 25, 2021 and approved for deemed extension up to March 31, 2030 subject to complying of conditions put forth by the government.
The lease agreement with Sohra Syiemship expired on February 25, 2022 for the Sohra lease area of 354.58 acres or 143.49 hectares, and the lease agreement with durbar of Mawmluh has expired on September 13, 2017 for the Mawmluh lease area of 345.13 acres or 139.64 hectares.
The MCCL cement plant has been non-operational since March 2020 following the national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and since July 2020, various discussions have been held by the government with various stakeholders.
Dhar said a study was conducted by IIFCL Pvt Ltd which estimated an amount of Rs 190.32 crore for revival.
Financial constraints have prevented the resumption of operations, resulting in the accumulation of unpaid supplier bills, agency dues and employee salaries and wages.
To address this situation, the government approved in July 2021 the proposal to bring in a joint venture (JV) partner for Mawmluh Cherra Cements Ltd (MCCL).
An Expression of Interest (EoI) was floated as a first step in this process three parties responded to the EOI in April 2022.
One of the firm M/s Arihant International Ltd Guwahati was disqualified for not meeting EoI requirements. Another firm M/s JK Cement Ltd, New Delhi opted out subsequently.
The only firm which finally showed interest was M/s Bhavika Commercial Pvt Ltd, Kolkata who made presentations to MCCL on May 30, 2022 and July 18, 2022. It however turned out that the firm operated multiple cement grinding units but does not have an integrated cement plant.
The party was requested to submit documents as per the EoI terms. Despite numerous reminders, the party did not furnish the necessary information required.
Due to the inability of M/s Bhavika Commercial Pvt Ltd, Kolkata to furnish the necessary documents, the EoI for bringing a Joint Venture partner was terminated on December 15, 2023.
