CCEA approves closure of Biecco Lawrie Limited

New Delhi [India] Oct 10 (ANI): The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal for closure of Biecco Lawrie Limited (BLL) including giving Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS)/ Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) to the employees of the Company.
The idling assets of BLL will be subsequently put into productive use after meeting all the liabilities in accordance with the extant guidelines of the government. Moreover, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has taken various steps for the revival of the company from time to time. However, the Company could not be revived and further, there appeared no possibility of revival of the company considering the competitive business environment as well as huge capital requirement. A continued loss has made further operations of the company not only unviable but also resulted in substantial distress to officials and staff due to an uncertain future, the Centre said.
BLL is a Schedule 'C' Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) with 67.33 per cent and 32.33 per cent equity shares held by Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) and the Government of India, respectively. The remaining 0.44 per cent shares are held by others.
The Company has consistently been under financial stress and has had performance-related issues. It has been incurring losses for the last several years. BLL's accumulated losses had become more than the equity and the net worth had become negative. The Net worth of the Company stood at Rs (-) 78.88 crore at the end of the FY 2017-18 and accumulated loss as on March 31, 2018, was Rs (-) 153.95 crore (ANI)