OTM revival issue: HC orders govt to deposit Rs 115 crore with liquidator

Following a direction of the Orissa High Court, the official liquidator of the State-owned Orissa Textile Mills (OTM) on Thursday submitted a list of persons and firms which were supposed to receive Rs 115 crore from OTM.

The court, meanwhile, has asked the state government to deposit Rs 115 crore with the liquidator by October 15. The next hearing will be held on October 18.

Earlier, the court had given six weeks’ time to the official liquidator appointed for OTM to come up with a clear picture of the claims and receipts involving the company by engaging a chartered accountant.

Sources said, OTM was incorporated as a public limited company by Biju Patnaik and Pratap Singh in 1946. OTM had its first production in 1950 as a public sector unit. In 1981, the mill was declared sick owing to mismanagement of company funds.  

Later, it was taken over by the state government, but in 2001 the textile mill was shut down due to extreme financial losses.

After winding up OTM, the state government had filed a petition for liquidation of the company in the High Court. The court had subsequently appointed an official liquidator for the purpose.