The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has suggested that Maytas Infra, the infrastructure arm headed by Teja Raju, could go the Satyam way. Corporate affairs minister Salman Khursheed, in an interview to a news channel on Sunday, opined that the government-nominated directors on the Maytas board could explore the possibility of a stake sale.
On an earlier occasion also, the minister had said, ?The government will consider strategic sale of Maytas Infra if the company board decides to do so. It is up to the board to decide, whether they need any strategic investor. If they come to us we will consider it?.
But the government-nominated directors on the Maytas Infra board are very certain that the focus of the board, right now, is to put the company back on track. The issue of stake sale is not under discussion. And it is not even on the agenda of the board as on date, they reiterated.
The government-nominated directors also claim that the company is on the revival path and as per the estimates of the board, during April-June it had clocked a turnover of Rs 224 crore. Credibility was a big issue for the company right from the time Satyam fraud came into light. But the government directors have managed to give assurances and reassurances to all stakeholders and recently got on a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) package approved by nearly 18 banks. Debt to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore got restructured. Besides, the banks committed to further pump funds into the organisation to meet the working capital requirements. The first round of Rs 100 crore loan and Rs 200 crore of bank guarantees is likely to come in by month-end. This would not only give Maytas Infra the necessary muscle power to execute the existing projects, but it would also give them the ability to bid for new ones.
To speed up the process, the current board has also formed a separate cell of trained professionals that would look out for business opportunities in sectors like roads, railways, oil and gas, ports, power and power transmission.
The government directors are confident of realising money from inter corporate deposits as there is enough documentary evidence on how the deposits have found their way to Satyam Computer.
Meanwhile, the board of Maytas Properties had expressed its willingness to sell some portion of the company’s stake in the Maytas Hill County project-a Rs 1100 crore commercial and residential project being developed in the city. It is also in talks with banks and financial institutions to raise Rs 100 crore to complete the project. According to Ved Jain, who is on the board of Maytas Properties, ?there is delay in handing over the project to the customers as the company immediately needs Rs 100 crore to complete the construction activities. And fund flow is a big problem. We are trying to source funds from banks and institutions and everything should get sorted out within a month. The board is also exploring other options like stake sale in the project to raise money. Maytas Properties has land bank of 6,800 acres but there are no takers?.