Committee on Disputes to meet today to take up State Trading Corporation’s dues

Sources in the department said that the exercise would aim to reduce the outstanding position to zero before calling for financial bids from various bidders. Alternatively, the department is planning to get the parties to write off the dues in case the meeting fails to find a solution. As many as a dozen players had submitted expression of interest (EoI) including Videocon Group, Cargill, Mitsubishi, Adani and Essar Groups. Government proposes to bring down its stake in the company to 26 per cent from 91 per cent by transferring strategic control over the company.

Out of the remaining equity 16 per cent would be retained by the government while 10 per cent would be offered to employees. It has mandated Ernst and Young to act as global advisors. STC has an equity base of Rs 30 crore off which government shareholding stands at Rs 27 crore. It had a net worth of Rs 420 crore as on March 2001 while net profits stood at Rs 26 crore. The corporation which is engaged in export and import of canalised and other times has a staff strength of 1,224.