Cabinet approves sale of surplus land of Hindustan Anti-biotics

To meet its existing liabilities, the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the sale of surplus and vacant land of Hindustan Anti-biotics Ltd (HAL).

The sale of about 87.70 acres of HAL land at Pimpri in Pune will help mitigate the suffering of the employees, an official statement said.

If the liabilities are met and the balance sheet is cleaned, the implementation of recommendations of the Ministers’ Committee will be facilitated, it said.

In May, the government set up a committee under the leadership of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to make recommendations for time bound revival of HAL.

The actual area of land to be sold would depend on the bids.

After waiver and deferment, the net liability of HAL is in the tune of Rs 821.17 crore.

The cabinet also approved the sanction of a loan of Rs 100 crore to meet the wages, salaries and other expenses of immediate nature. This loan will be repaid to the government from sale proceeds of the HAL land.

The Cabinet has waived off a loan of Rs 307.23 crore (principal amount of Rs 186.96 crore and interest of Rs 120.27 crore) and deferred various dues amounting to Rs 128.68 crore.

After the scheme is implemented, the company will have no liabilities.