BANGALORE NOV 13: The Karnataka government today categorically ruled out any grant of funds to Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) to tide over its financial crisis or its takeover.Minister for large and medium industries, R V Deshpande replying to the matter raised in the state assembly by C Byre Gowda (JD-U) and K Jayaprakash Hegde (Ind) seeking government takeover of the unit, said it was not the priority of the government to establish or run major industries.Deshpande said the MCF dispute was before the Board for Industrial Finance and Reconstruction (BIFR) since 1994 and lingering without any solution following adamant attitude in settlement of dues by bankers and promoters. He said MCF was not running in losses currently. He said the government, however, had not permitted the management to close down the factory, which was the lone manufacturer of chemical fertilisers in the state.Deshpande said while the MCF management was demanding Rs 50 crore working capital, the bankers weredemanding Rs 133 crore dues by it. The BIFR had already served show-cause notice to the MCF, he said. Deshpande said the high power committee set up in the state under the chairmanship of the chief secretary was meeting shortly and would communicate its opinion to BIFR. He said as per the records with the government, the BIFR had rejected the employee's plea for takeover of the factory.
