Rs 12 billion invested by 10 banks in Samrat Cement at risk

By Indra Kumar

KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 5: On December 1, aarthiknews.com published an investigative news titled “Diabolical Plan to Seize Samrat Cement” in which a ploy of two of its stakeholders- Chaudhary Group and Rungata Group- to grab it by deceiving other owners was revealed.  Since the last month of Shravan (July 17 to August 17), the company has been closed.

Now information has been received exposing the other hidden agenda of the group. It is about pushing some 10 commercial banks to the brink of collapse. The crafty plan is being executed in connivance with another group led by Anil Rungata.

According to the victimised stakeholders of Samrat Cement, an agreement was reached between them and the two groups on June 28.  As per the deal signed in the presence of Himalayan Bank,  the 45 percent stake held by the former in the company was sold to the latter possessing the 55 percent stake.  But,  in July, the Chudhary-Rungata side came up with an issue about the “wrong arithmetic calculation of the shares (of Samrat Cement) while selling them. To resolve it, a discussion program was held between the concerned stakeholders and 10 commercial banks including Himalayan Bank investing in the company.

According to a bank CEO taking part in the program, those representing the Chaudhary and Rungata groups did not display a genuine desire to fix the problem. “This has put a total of Rs 12 billion invested by the bank in the company at risk,” he said.   Since the closure of the company by Chaudhary on the very day of the agreement signing (June 28), it has incurred losses of around Rs 1 billion.  Samrat Cement was closed down so that more shares of the company could be grabbed by showing its losses, according to sources.