PTI

New Delhi/ Mumbai, May 25: The National Textile Corporation (NTC) is in talks with the Maharashtra Government to sell the remaining 10 mills land in Mumbai.

"NTC and the Centre is talking to Maharashtra Government for allowing the sale of land of 10 more mills in Mumbai. The sale will fetch NTC around Rs 4,000 crore," sources said.

Last fiscal NTC had raised Rs 2,000 crore by selling the land of five mills in Mumbai through auction.

The company will be utilising the proceeds of the sale to get back on its feet.

NTC is expecting to wipe-off its cash loss by this fiscal and is planning to touch a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore by 2008-09.

The company had 282 retail outlets of which only 100 remain and NTC plans to utilise them for selling its branded products.

To restructure its operations it had brought down the number of employees from 3 lakh to 21,000. For funding voluntary retirement scheme it had raised Rs 1,800 crore through bonds in tranches.

The first tranche of bonds worth Rs 250 crore would be redeemed in January 2007. The company will be paying Rs 650 crore as interest on these bonds.

As part of the restructuring, NTC will modernise 22 mills on its own with the total cost of Rs 530 crore, while 29 will be revived through private participation.

NTC has already placed an order for machinery for five mills with China Texmatech Company.