BGML may be closed by March, says MD

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, DEC. 13. Bharat Gold Mines Ltd. (BGML) is scheduled to be closed by March, Mr. S.D.Prasad, Chairman and Managing Director, Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd. (MECL), who holds the additional charge of Managing Director, BGML, said here on Tuesday.

Mr. Prasad told presspersons that the Centre had already given its approval to the closure of the mines as per the Board of Industrial and Financial reconstruction (BIFR) order of June 2000. A final hearing of the Ministry of Labour was scheduled for February.

Efforts to rehabilitate the remaining employees and their families had failed, Mr. Prasad said. These employees, who numbered over 4,000, faced retrenchment under the Industrial Disputes Act, if they did not utilise the Voluntary Retirement Scheme offered to them.

The employees had been offered two schemes of voluntary severance payment -- the heavy industries scheme and the Gujarat model. The Gujarat model gave the employees an average of about Rs. 30,000 more. The employees had to accept one of the two schemes before January 10, when the schemes expire.

Some of the employees of the mines were likely to be employed by Mining Exploration Corporation Ltd., Manganese Ores India Ltd., and Singrani Collieries, Mr. Prasad said. MECL would employ 500 people for its work elsewhere in the country, he said.

Mr. Prasad said that BGML's operations had come to a halt and that it had no source of earning. The net requirement of cash for the company was Rs. 3 crores a month for paying salaries, EPF, Power Bill, Security and safety of mines. The company's current liabilities were about Rs. 90 crores, he said. Selling of its lands, buildings and other assets was being considered to meet part of the dues, he said.

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