None turns up for auction of Paonta firm’s assets

Tribune News Service

Solan, September 19

Efforts of the officials of the Excise and Taxation Department to recover the pending tax liability from the Paonta Sahib-based Indian Technomac Company Limited (ITCL) came a cropper as no bidder turned up to participate in the first auction held today at Nahan.

Nodal officer GD Thakur said no bidder came forward to participate in the auction of 265-14-16 bigha land of the ITCL. A reserve price of Rs 303.91 crore had been fixed for the land. He said though some inquires had been made by prospective bidders from Maharashtra and Ahmedabad and they had also conducted a spot inspection prior to today’s auction, none turned up at the auction.

He said since the final sale was subject to confirmation by the high court, the prospective buyers were fearful of losing money. Earnest money of 10 per cent of the reserve price was supposed to be deposited by the interested bidders along with the tender form and another 25 per cent was to be deposited by the bidder whose bid was confirmed at the drop of the hammer.

Thakur said this information would be put up before the HC. The assets of the company had been attached by the Excise and Taxation Department under the HP Land Revenue Act as the company had failed to pay its pending tax. The company was involved in a multi-crore embezzlement.

The Economic Intelligence Unit of the Excise and Taxation Department had detected the fraud on February 18, 2014, as a huge mismatch was found in the return filed by the company and the VAT-26-A declarations. The company was manufacturing steel and raw materials, ferro alloys and steel ingots and it had become liable to pay tax from January 2008.

The Excise and Taxation Department alone had suffered tax evasion worth Rs 2,175.51 crore, various banks were defaulted to the tune of Rs 2,167 crore and the I-T Department Rs 750 crore.