The state cabinet today approved a proposal to explore joint venture options for the financially ailing Mawmluh Cherra Cement Ltd (MCCL).
The struggling state-owned company is a persistent drain on the public purse and is unable to pay its employees’ wages let alone turn a profit.
The government has explored several options to turn the company around and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said today that he has engaged with all stakeholders – employees, management, landowners, mine owners and elected representatives.
“Due to the huge financial requirement and the burden that MCCL is facing right now and the fact that adequate production is not taking place, there was a need to make a decision on how to prepare things and move forward,” Sangma said.
To pull MCCL out of the mire, some Rs 190 crore of public money would be further required, something that the state government felt itself unable to provide given that the financial health of Meghalaya’s treasury is not so rosy as well. The second option was to find a joint venture partner while the third was to shutter MCCL completely.
“Keeping in mind the financial constraints that are there on the state and its inability to invest Rs 190 crore at this point in time, it was suggested (in the cabinet) that a joint venture route be taken,” Sangma said.
