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Kerala reiterates plea against FACT divestment

The Kerala government has conveyed its opposition to the Centre's proposal to disinvest the shares of the central public sector Fertilizer and Chemicals Travancore -- FACT -- at Kochi, Industries Minister Suseela Gopalan said today in the state assembly in Thiruvananthapuram.

Replying to a calling attention motion on the problems being faced by FACT, moved by M P Varghese of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, she said the indications, however, were that the Centre was going ahead with the disinvestment proposal.

Gopalan said the Kerala government had been requesting the Centre to increase the customs duty on caprolactam to 40 per cent from the 25 per cent to minimise import and thereby help FACT. The Centre had now agreed to review the present excise duty while preparing the Budget for 1999-2000.

With a view to saving FACT from the present crisis, the Kerala government had been demanding that the Centre restore naphtha subsidy, write off the interest on the loan obtained by FACT for its ammonia plant and sanction a Rs 2 billion capital subsidy. The company should also be exempted from the payment of dividend.

UNI

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