SHILLONG: With the commissioning of an upgraded Mawmluh Cherra Cements Limited (MCCL) on January 3, commercial production of cement is expected to start in February.
MCCL Managing Director Sanjay Goyal on Thursday said that though the project was commissioned on January 3, the production is yet to be stabilized.
“There are some hiccups due to the new dry process plant, but we are trying to rectify the problems,” Goyal said.
There has been no production of cement since August 2014 due to the works related to the modernization of MCCL. In fact, the modernization work has been pending since 2007-08.
However, all is not well with the plant as there is no captive power plant to ensure that the plant runs without any interruption when there is electricity failure.
Moreover, with the ban on coal mining in Meghalaya, the State government had sought for coal linkage of 60,000 metric tonnes from outside the State for the smooth running of the plant.
With the approval of the Union Ministry of Coal, Assam will now supply coal to MCCL.
Another concern on the part of the government is the pending salary to be paid to as many as 480 employees of MCCL for the last 12 months.
Over 140 employees are willing to accept the voluntary retirement scheme offered by the government which will have to be cleared by the cabinet.
The State government will incur an expenditure of nearly Rs.25 crore for the voluntary retirement scheme.
In addition, there are pending dues worth several crores of rupees to be paid to MeECL and Taxation department by MCCL.
