The company, which had terminated its manufacturing operations at the Mandyaplant, has informed the BIFR bench that no revival package was in theoffing. This comes in the wake of failure to lure a strategic investor evenafter an 18-month search.

The companies that had earlier showed interest and then backed out includedthe Somaiya group, Keerthi and Company Ltd, Vam Organics and the Khodaygroup. Interestingly, SBI Capital Markets and the Karnataka State IndustrialInvestment & Development Corporation Ltd (KSIIDC), the nodal agency have notsubmitted any proposal to the Karnataka government to this effect.

Since the state government was unable to offer additional funds for thecompany's voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for which Mysore Acetate hadalready received Rs 5 crore, employees at its corporate office are a worriedlot. The company is yet to give voluntary retirement scheme installments forthe month of October.

``State finance secretary Gopal Reddy in a meeting on October 28 said thegovernment did not have any money for the company's gratuity and voluntaryretirement scheme. We were told to sell assets and pay up dues worth Rs 16.6crore to our banks and employees. Since BIFR was against sale of assets atthis juncture, we are awaiting orders from the agency,'' a top officialsaid.

Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda, the lead banker for the company, has asked for aone-time settlement of its dues amounting Rs 3.2 crore (inclusive ofinterest). ``BoB is ready to waive interest to the tune of Rs 1 crore if wepay up within a stipulated time frame,'' he added. During the last fiscal, aconsortium of banks lead by the State Bank of India and BoB had rejected astate government proposal to bail out the ailing company by raising fundsfrom them. Bank officials had declared that the company was unlikely to beable to pay them back as it was on the BIFR's hit-list.

The company was planning to raise term loans to meet the VRS expenditure forthe 585 employees on its rolls. Mysore Acetate had 560 and 25 employees atits Mandya facility and corporate office in Bangalore respectively.