KalingaTV News Network
Bolangir: Odisha Government’s efforts to revive the defunct Bijayanant cooperative sugar mill located at Sagarpalli under Deogaon block in the district received a serious jolt on Monday with no bidders turning up for the auction held by Odisha Cooperative Bank on Monday.
Authorities of the Odisha State Cooperative Bank (OSCB) kept the minimum bidding amount at Rs 52.23 crores and kept waiting for the bidders till the afternoon in the presence of Choudhury Binit Kumar Das, GM, OSCB. With no bidders reaching the auction venue all day, the bank officials had to wind up the bidding process in the afternoon.
As auction could not be possible today, fresh bids may be invited shortly, said bank officials present at the venue, informing that the arrangements for the same would start soon.
Notably, Bijayanand sugar mill was started by a Tamil Nadu based firm, Poni, in 1993. But after seven years of successful functioning, the authorities closed it in the year 2000 citing financial loss. Following the closure of the mill, the creditor ICICI bank took possession of the mill. It was later revived by senior political leader Jagneshwar Babu in 2004 and got registered under the Cooperatives Act of 2001. Babu became its Chairman in 2005 and led it till 2013 but the mill borrowed heavily under him and the total load burden went up to Rs 52 crores ultimately leading to the closure of the unit. Hundreds of employees were rendered jobless lost their jobs due to the closure of the mill.
Ms Kalinga