The 1,500-odd employees of beleaguered Scooters India Limited (SIL) have sought the intervention of Congress president and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi against the proposed divestment.
The employees are opposed to divestment, alleging vested interests had resulted in the systematic and gradual downfall of the central public sector enterprise.
A couple of years earlier, the company was estimated to be worth Rs 850 crore. While, the factory is spread over an area of 150 acres of land, another 200 acres account for the residential blocks and abandoned open stretch. The leased land belongs to the Uttar Pradesh government. The employees are also seeking an audience with ruling Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra and other political parties, including state Congress leadership, in this regard. Almost 1,000 SIL employees are on regular rolls, while another 500-odd had been retained after retirement. “Except for the directors, all the other company officials and employees are supporting the agitation,” Pandey added.
SIL’s net loss decreased to Rs 17 crore during 2010-11, down from Rs 28 crore during 2009-10. Interestingly, SIL posted operational profit of Rs 1.5 crore in the fourth quarter of the last financial year.
Last year, Rajkot-based Atul Auto had formally expressed its interest to buy controlling stake in the company and even met then heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
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Earlier, the ailing company had made several attempts to foray into new segments, such as electric two-wheelers for reviving its fortunes. Its current product line centres around the three-wheeler ‘Vikram’, a cost-effective passenger vehicle. It had even solicited expression of interest from manufacturers of electric two-wheelers for collaboration in manufacture and marketing. SIL assembly line has a capacity of about 3,000 three-wheelers per month.
Incorporated in 1972, Lucknow-based SIL is an integrated automobile plant, engaged in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad spectrum of conventional and non-conventional fuel driven three-wheelers.
SIL’s plant owes its origin to M/s Innocenti of Italy from which it bought over the plant and machinery, design and copyright. In 1975, SIL started its commercial production of scooters under the brand name of Vijay Super for the domestic market and Lambretta for the overseas market.
Later, it introduced the ‘Vikram’, which ran on fossil fuel such as petrol and diesel and non-conventional fuels, LPG, CNG and batteries. The company has its own marketing network of regional sales offices all over India. In 1996, SIL was referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). It discontinued two-wheeler production in 1997.
“Now, the royalty from Lambretta has stopped due to poor planning and strategy by the management,” Pandey alleged. After the BIFR approved a revival plan in 1996, SIL witnessed a turnaround and started making profit. It posted profits till 2003, but again slipped into the red.