The government of India has revived plans to sell six out of 10 cement plants operated by state-owned Cement Corp of India. Two of the cement plants are located in the state of Chhattisgarh and one each in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Harayana and Delhi.

The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), which looks into ailing public sector units, has reconstituted an asset sale committee to arrive at a valuation for the six plants, which have not been functional for almost a decade.

“The plants will be sold. An asset sale committee headed by the IFCI Ltd chairman is looking into the matter,” said an official in the department of heavy industries (DHI) which is part of the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises.

IFCI, a government-owned financial consultancy, has mandated SBI Capital Markets Ltd, the merchant banking wing of the nation’s largest lender State Bank of India, to find buyers.

The asset sale committee has also appointed three agencies to arrive at a valuation of the plants, a Cement Corp.

The six plants to be sold include a cement-grinding unit in Delhi.

The BIFR has put on hold plans to sell a seventh unit, Adilabad plant in Andhra Pradesh. “The plant is embroiled in a court case lodged by its employees, and the government is looking to revive the plant now,” said the Cement Corp. official said earlier. (Source: Live Mint).