The Maytas Infrastructure board is scheduled to meet next week to evaluate the Rs 12,000-crore Hyderabad Metro project. The six-member board, with majority of directors nominated by the government, is evaluating the various aspects of the prestigious project, including land acquisition and financial closure.
Chairman K Ramalingam (the government-nominated director) said there were certain issues, including arranging funds for the metro project, which the board would take up in the next meeting, scheduled on May 9-10.
The project management committee is expected to make a detailed presentation to the board at the meeting.
Maytas Infra has already moved an application to the Andhra Pradesh government asking for extending the deadline for the financial closure of the project. The original date for the financial closure was March 18, 2009.
Maytas Metro Ltd, the special project vehicle for the Hyderabad Metro project, is a consortium comprising Navabharat Ventures Ltd, Maytas Infra, Ital Thai Development Public Company Ltd and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd. Ramalingam said there were 1,800 employees in the company.
Although a few employees left the organisation after the Satyam scam, many of them were willing to come back, which he added was a good sign.
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On the proposed revival plan of the company, Ramalingam said, “We have interacted with senior executives and have been finding ways to revive the company. The company has very good professionals, it can be revived, we have started evaluating the projects,” he said.
When asked about the audited accounts for the year ended 2008-09, Ved Jain, the government-nominated director, said it would take some time as the investigating agencies were still doing their work. Once the probe is complete, the company will be able to give the true picture, he said.
The order book of the company has shrunk marginally due to the global financial meltdown and developments in the wake of the disclosure of fudging of accounts in Satyam Computers, the chairman said, adding that the company has set up four committees to focus on their respective areas of project management, audit, banking, finance and legal.
“We have done draft plans for restructuring and have started meeting the customers to assure them,” he said. The board has already restructured the management by appointing two presidents, CS Bansal and Rajendra Nimje, who will spearhead the company.
The chairman said the company has a healthy order book worth over Rs 8,500 crore, excluding the Rs 12,000-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail project.
Financial closures for projects worth Rs 8,500 crore have taken place and they are expected to be completed in the next 24 months, according to Jain. He said existing funds were sufficient to carry out the projects. In addition, the company has receivables of around Rs 500 crore, he added.
Of the Rs 8,500-crore projects, Rs 5,000 crore are for irrigation projects, which are not on Built-Operate-Transfer basis.