The mill has been facing severe financial crisis for almost a decade. In 2003, the unit had received Rs 14 crore order from the Indian Army, but the finished product was rejected by senior Army officials alleging poor quality.
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the rejection was also ordered. However, the inquiry's report is yet to come out. The management is hesitant to comment over the issue.
The rejected 150,000 metres of woollen Angola fabric and about 50,000 metres of Dhariwal cloth has been lying in the stores and the management has not been unable to find any customers for it.
The management has now decided to sell the woollen Angola and Dhariwal brand cloth, which are rotting in stores. The fabric, which was once worth crores, will now have to be virtually squandered for peanuts.
An NTC committee has visited the Lal-Imli mill to evaluate the real value of dumped textile. The process of selling the cloth in instalments has started and the visiting committee chairman and chief controller of accounts, Deepak Das, has decided to sell cloth worth Rs 8 crore in first tender after consultations with senior BIC officials.
"The process for selling the dumped cloth has been continuing and we have sold some of it, while tenders have been invited for selling the rest," says D S Mishra, general manager, finance and accounts in BIC.
The NTC administration has also decided to re-open its retail outlet in Naveen market to sell the finished products lying in stores of various BIC mills. The outlet had been lying closed for past eight years.The decision to open the showroom comes after some labour representatives of the mill met the NTC chairman demanding its renewal.
