The race for closed sugar mills in Bihar doesn’t seem to have ended with chief minister Nitish Kumar stating on Monday that those mills which did not attract any bid would be retendered.
Bids were received only for 5 out of the 15 closed mills on the block
NEW DELHI: The race for closed sugar mills in Bihar doesn’t seem to have ended with chief minister Nitish Kumar stating on Monday that those mills which did not attract any bid would be retendered.
Oil majors Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) were among the companies that had put in bids for the revival of five out of the 15 mills in Bihar.
“We will retender the remaining mills,” Nitish Kumar told reporters here. Financial contracts for the revival of mills were awarded last month, leaving about 10 for which the tendering process would be conducted again.
While RIL won the bid for reviving the Motipur sugar mill, HPCL received the contracts for two other mills.
The New Delhi-based Rollcon Projects won the bid for a closed mill at Lohat, while Bihar-based SS Infrastructure got a mill at Rayani.
On whether the state would reduce the floor price set for the remaining mills, considering that no bids were received, Kumar said, “The decision would be taken by SBI Caps, which has been appointed to conduct the process.”
RIL and HPCL had bid for the mills with the purported reason of using them for ethanol production, but a legislative amendment is being interpreted to mean that only sugar companies can produce sugar and ethanol.
This has caused confusion whether the mills would be awarded to the two oil companies.
“The amendment is being interpreted differently by the Centre and the Bihar government,” an industry player told DNA Money.
The state is offering a host of incentives like capital subsidy, sugarcane purchase tax waiver etc on sugarcane-based industries.
It also amended the Bihar Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1981, last year, allowing sugarcane juice to be directly used to produce ethanol or rectified spirit and for co-generation of power.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}