Bihar to re-auction 10 sugar mills; LoIs to RIL, HPCL on Tuesday

The Bihar government has decided to re-auction by this month-end 10 closed sugar mills, which had not received responsive bids in an earlier round.

It will issue letter of intent to successful bidders like Reliance and HPCL for the five mills auctioned in December.

"The tender will again be floated for leasing out 10 of the 15 sugar mills in the state," Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters here on Monday.

The new tender will be issued in the next 10-15 days, the State's Sugarcane Minister Nitish Mishra told PTI from Patna.

In December, Bihar government received bids from private firms for taking the closed mills on a 60-year lease but 10 mills either did not get bids or were quoted a price lower than the floor rate fixed by the financial advisor.

Kumar said SBI Caps would suggest on revising the floor price for the 10 mills, if needed.

The Bihar government has appointed SBI Caps as financial advisor for leasing out the sugar mills to the private sector.

Mishra said both the new tender and leasing out the mills to successful bidders have been approved by the State Cabinet.

The state government will on Tuesday issue the letter of intent (LoI) to the successful bidders like Reliance Industries and HPCL for the five mills, he said, adding it will receive Rs 192.11 crore from the firms for the lease.

Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has bagged one unit while oil firm Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd got two sugar mills. Delhi-based Rollcon Projects and S S Infrastructure of Darbhanga were the other two successful bidders.

Out of 15 defunct mills auctioned for long-term lease, bids had come for 12 units from 29 companies. The government rejected bids for seven mills on the ground of low floor price offered by the participants while there was none for the three units.