The legacy of the Mawmluh Cherra Cement Limited (MCCL) which was once known to produce high quality cement is finally coming to an end soon.
The MDA government has decided to go for the closure of the 58-year-old government-owned cement factory located at Mawmluh, Sohra.
Speaking to media persons here today, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that the State government is amicably settling the matter with the stakeholders and employees and more or less, they have more or less come to a conclusion of going for voluntary retirement scheme.
“There will be a kind of a golden handshake with permanent employees and then we will go for closure of MCCL,” the chief minister said.
According to him, the State government requires huge investment for moving forward with the cement factory even though more than Rs 300 crore has been invested in the project in the last 15 years.
“We have tried our best to revive the MCCL but in the given circumstances, the public and employees are suffering and decisiveness has to be there and we have decided that we will be closing it with proper consultations with the stakeholders for terms and conditions,” Sangma said.
The State government was earlier planning to go for a joint venture for the factory but the government did not receive much positive response.
“We had an option of spending Rs 150-200 crore which we felt was difficult and for joint venture we gave the Expression of Interest but the players which we got were not at the level where they could justify the scale of investment,” he said.
He also said that after evaluating the project with stakeholders, the government felt that closing the MCCL was the right way to move forward and the closure would be done after discussing the terms and conditions with the stakeholders.
The MCCL is the oldest public sector undertaking unit and is the only State-owned cement plant set up in the early 1960s (then undivided Assam) in limestone rich Sohra.
