IDBI seizes Ganesh Benzoplast’s unit

The salt refinery complex is situated on a sprawling area of 20 acres, and is having a 300 tonnes per day installed capacity of refined iodised salt. Besides the refinery, the company is having tank farms at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Navi Mumbai, Marmugao Port, Goa, and Kochi Port and a chemical plant at Tarapur, Maharashtra, IDBI said.

“IDBI has charge on all the fixed assets of the company, and the takeover of salt refinery is the first step towards enforcement of its securities,” IDBI officials said. IDBI has also issued notices to 20 other defaulting borrowers under the Securitisation Act and is planning similar action.

Ganesh Benzoplast is one among a multitude of companies which have failed investors badly. When the company came out with a public issue in 1994, the shares hovered around Rs 220. But after the public issue, the stock has been on a steady decline. The stock closed at Rs 2.40 on the BSE on Wednesday.

GBL was incorporated on May 15, 1986 in Maharashtra. The company is engaged in the manufacture of industrial chemicals viz. benzoate plasticizers, benzoic acid and sodium benzoate and salt. While the industrial chemicals division manufactures benzoate plasticizers, benzoic acid and sodium benzoate, the infrastructure division manufactures MS angle, channel, flats, plate and square bar. The company which was doing well till the mid-90s became a defaulter later after its performance on the financial front deteriorated.

GBL set up a plant at Tarapur, Maharashtra with a capacity of 3,600 tpa of benzoate plasticizers which was later expanded to to 7,200 tpa. GBL is also engaged in trading of chemicals like benzene and toluene dimethyl carbonate. During FY98, the company expanded the chemical storage facility at JNPT, taking the operational capacity to 200,000 tpa. It has a 90000-kl manufacturing facility for refined iodised salt at Rajkot.

In February 2002, Shankarmal G. Pilani, chairman and director, Ramesh D. Punjabi, director and technical advisor, resigned. Ramesh S. Pilani, director, became the chairman and technical advisor.

The company was also focussing on development of infrastructure division by setting up a terminal facility with a view to complete ongoing projects. The company has been awarded with the ONGC contract of operation and maintenance of multi-support and geo-technical vessels recently.