The recovery of Rs 300 crore would bring down the interest cost and improve the bottomline to an extent, he said. A substantial part of the recovery was also on account of dry dock charges incurred by SCI as also on charges pertaining to time charter payment. The amount of dues spiralled as a result of the shift to market-based freight rate in April, 1998 from the cost plus actual reimbursement practice. Meanwhile, the crucial board meeting of SCI which took place after a substantial gap of two months on Monday did not consider PricewaterhouseCooper's (PwC) recommendations for a three way split.

"We are still debating the time frame within which the recommendations could be implemented", SCI chairman and managing director PK Srivastava said at the end of a marathon board meeting which lasted for more than four hours.

The meeting was regular and routine decisions were taken in it, he added. He denied of any pressure from either employee unions among others for not considering the three way split recommended by PwC in its report. Analysts said that the restructuring by way of a three way split was to make SCI's proposal lucrative enough for disinvestment and also enable the government to appoint a global advisor. Mr Srivastava said that the Centre will take a decision on the recommendations of PwC report. He added that the government's approval on SCI's Voluntary Retirement Scheme to trim the wage bill is still awaited.