Govt hopes to fetch Rs 700 cr from NTC land sale in Mumbai

NEW DELHI: National Textile Corporation is looking to raise Rs 700 crore from the sale of 12-acre plot in a prime Mumbai locality to fund modernisation of ailing mills.

The decision to sell this land through a public tender was taken by a group of ministers headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

"The government hopes to get about Rs 700 crore from the Finaly Mill land sale," NTC Chairman Ramachandran Pillai said.
The government has also cleared a proposal for NTC to float three joint ventures in Ahemdabad, Udaipur and Bangalore along with a private partner. NTC would retain a 51 per cent stake in the JV.

NTC would modernise 18 of its sick mills through joint venture route by inducting private partners. So far, over 60 inviable NTC mills have been closed, while 22 would be modernised by the Corporation through funds generated from sale of its surplus assets.

NTC has finalised three parties namely Alok Industries, Pantaloon Retail India and Bhasker Industries for modernisation of five mills through joint ventures.

Since 2005, NTC has earned about Rs 2,100 crore from the sale of 50 acres of land. Revival of NTC has hinged upon the sale of vast surplus land owned by the state-run company in downtown areas of major cities like Mumbai.