For the first time, the company and its media consultant noted that SBI had agreed to acquire the company's Worli property, the sale of which forms the cornerstone of the Rs 113.8-crore revival package.

According to a press release issued by the company's media consultant, SBI has denied having agreed earlier to acquire the property for a price between Rs 55 crore and Rs 63 crore, pointing out that the valuation should be higher since the user status of the property has been changed.

The valuation of the Worli property has been disputed over the years by 38 different parties in the Metal Box revival case. Already the property has been valued and re-valued six times in the last five years.

The property was firstvalued at around Rs 54 crore, revalued to Rs 60 crore, then to Rs 73 crore, followed by an upward revision to Rs 91.54 crore and Rs 96 crore. In 1998, two valuers -- SR Batliboi and HDFC -- were appointed to value the Worli property.

While SR Batliboi valued the property at Rs 36 crore and Rs 43 crore based on two different user status, HDFC's report noted that the price will be around Rs 64 crore.

The company has also revised its revival estimates four times in the last three years to Rs 113.8 crore from Rs 107.8 crore. Earlier, the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction had approved a Rs 139.82 crore revival plan taking into account the fact that the sale of the Worli property would fetch around Rs 91 crore.

The plan was revised to Rs 104 crore in early 1997 taking into consideration the possible sale of the property at Rs 43 crore.

The release said the value of the Worli property had been settled at a joint meeting of the bankers, financial institutions and the Metal Box management. SBIconsidered acquiring the property at a price between Rs 55 crore and Rs 63 crore provided Rs 43.4 crore was made available to the company for rehabilitation.

Articles reporting on the outcome of the joint meetings published by The Financial Express

on March 4, 1999, had noted that the bankers had tagged certain conditions to approval of the revival scheme.

Significant among them is that HDFC's higher valuation price has to be considered for the Worli property instead of SR Batliboi's.

The release also noted that the difference in the valuation prices arrived at by HDFC and SR Batliboi is due to a couple of reasons -- that the premises are empty and that the financial institutions will release their charges in one go. However, the charges will be released as laid down in the rehabilitation scheme, which will be on a pro-rata basis as funds flow in.

The court has directed the participants to sit at the negotiation table for one last time and the release said the rehabilitation scheme will beapproved at the next hearing scheduled on May 18.