BIG B OWES DD BIG MONEY

Amitabh’s dues are Rs 33 crore, can repay only 7.8 crore

By Ritu Sarin
New Delhi: The Big B was in the capital last week to deal with some pressing financial matters. With friend, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh in tow, Bachchan strode into All India Radio for a meeting with Prasar Bharati Chief Executive, Rajeeva Ratan Shah.

Before the Prasar Bharti bosses, was a financial brief prepared by their commercial wing: the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL) was Doordashan’s highest debtor with an outstanding of Rs 33.42 crore and last heard, had offered "crystallising" their dues at a mere Rs 7.8 crore. Yesterday’s meeting ended with Amar Singh apparently pressing for an early settlement of dues and the Doordarshan bosses assuring the duo that a senior official in the commercial section will be freshly examining their case. Said Amar Singh after the meeting:

"Amitabh has paid off his bank debts and is now anxious to have an amicable settlement with Doordarshan. Friends like me have been telling him that since he is protected under the BIFR, he need not worry, but he is keen to settle, nonetheless."

Amar Singh is a director with the ABCL and says that as far as the company was concerned, they were calculating the outstanding at Rs 17 crore, also the figure provided to Parliament recently. Doordarshan’s internal correspondence, however, shows otherwise. An internal note prepared by Jaideep Bhatnagar, the Controller of Sales, shows that along with dues totalling Rs 17.65 crore for the national network and metro channels and another Rs 2.65 crores from the kendras, there was interest of Rs 12.95 crore (calculated up to March 2000) due from the company. The collections from ABCL had mounted since they had failed to pay up Doordarshan’s share of revenue generated during the Ms World 1996 event and those marked against them as marketing agents for Rangoli and Chitrahaar in 1997. The note, dated April 18, states that even as ABCL’s dues were mounting, the I&B Ministry took up the subject with the Ministry of Law, who suggested an arbitrator be appointed.

However, on hearing that the company had gone into insolvency, Doordarshan also decided to file a civil suit against ABCL.

Once ABCL was declared a sick company, the matter was referred to the Bureau of Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) and thereafter to the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) which was asked to work out a rehabilitation package for ABCL. It was before the IDBI that the ABCL presented their settlement package which asked for:

* Complete waiver of interest of Rs 12.95 crore
* crystallising their dues at Rs 7.80 crore and writing off the balance dues, and
* Prasar Bharati withdrawing their civil suit filed against the company for waiver of dues.

Doordarshan, however, has stuck to its position of going in for a complete recovery of dues and it remains to be seen what final decision will be taken following the meeting with Amitabh Bachchan and Amar Singh. Prasar Bharati has submitted to the IDBI that the entire dues of Rs 33.26 crore should be paid by ABCL and should be provided in the rehabilitation package as directed by BIFR. "The proposal of M/S ABCL to repay only Rs 7.80 crore over a period of time involving over 30 equal quarterly instalments commencing from 1st January 2000 was not acceptable. The waiver of the interest was also not agreed to," the sales controller has said.