Shillong, Oct 13 The Meghalaya Cabinet has approved the winding up of state-owned Mawmluh Cherra Cements Limited (MCCL), whose production stopped in 2020, and the write-off of Rs 24.43 crore in pending sales tax and royalty dues, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Tuesday.
The cabinet approved the write-off of approximately Rs 8.9 crore in sales tax dues and Rs 15.53 crore in royalty liabilities to facilitate the completion of the company’s winding-up process, he said.
The chief minister said the dues owed to MCCL employees had been settled in line with the government’s commitment.
“As MCCL is a government-owned company, these liabilities would otherwise involve transfers between the state government and its departments,” he said.
The decision would simplify the winding-up process and enable the company to be closed without imposing any additional financial burden on the state government, he added.
MCCL, Meghalaya’s oldest state-owned cement company, was originally incorporated as Assam Cements Limited in 1955, before being renamed Mawmluh Cherra Cements Limited in 1974.
Its plant at Mawmluh in Sohra began commercial production on November 15, 1966.
The company expanded its operations over the years, installing additional kilns in 1979 and 1985.
However, its wet-process plant was decommissioned in August 2014 due to high operating costs, power consumption and environmental challenges.
A new 600-tonne-per-day dry-process plant, commissioned in September 2016 at a cost of around Rs 142.97 crore, also struggled with operational difficulties and low capacity utilisation, rendering it financially unviable.
The plant has remained non-operational since March 2020, following the COVID-19 lockdown.
Despite efforts to revive the company and explore private investment, the government concluded that its revival was not feasible due to environmental, financial and operational constraints.
In December 2024, the state cabinet approved a one-time industrial closure scheme for MCCL employees, paving the way for the shutdown process.
The government subsequently notified a special closure scheme in January 2025 to address employee compensation and outstanding dues.
The latest Cabinet decision is aimed at completing the formal winding up of the company by clearing the remaining inter-departmental liabilities, the chief minister said.
(PTI News)
