Coimbatore: The National Textile Corporation (NTC), which has hopes of reviving 53 textile mills, proposed to diversify in the coming years, according to a top company official.

NTC director (human resources) K Ramachandran Pillai, told reporters on June 28 night that though the NTC was already in the readymade and hosiery segment, the brand name "Entyce" had not attracted the public in an effective way. With chances of it being revived, NTC would tap this market in a big way, he said.

He said that a techno-economic viability study undertaken by textile research associations had identified 53 of the 119 mills owned and controlled by NTC, for revival. The remaining 66 would eventually be closed.

Stating that NTC had closed 21 mills and paid Rs 156 crore to employees, he said that it would require at least Rs 1,500 crore for paying the staff of 45 mills, including voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) optees.

With about 73,000 employees still remaining, the size would be brought down to 50 per cent within two years, the period for the revival scheme, he said.

This scheme envisaged implementation of VRS and closure of unviable mills, disposal of land, building machinery and other assets for mobilisation of funds, financial restructuring and modernisation, to make the mills viable, he said.

The company had already identified agencies for evaluating surplus land, which, according to an estimate, would be to the tune of Rs 3,500 crore, Pillai added.

PTI