'Proposal to close British India Corp in advance stage'

New Delhi: A proposal for closure of British India Corporation is in the advanced stage as the company has been incurring losses since its nationalisation in 1981, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

Closure of Handicraft and Handloom Export Corporation of India was approved by the Union Cabinet this week as it was continuously incurring losses for a long time and there was little scope for its revival, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

"Proposal for the closure of British India Corporation Ltd. (BICL) is in the advanced stage. The corporation has been incurring losses since its nationalization in the year 1981," she said.

She added that owing to continuance of losses, BICL was referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 1991 and was declared sick in 1992.

"The government approved revival schemes in November 2001, 2005 and 2011 also failed," she said.

The minister also said that to enable more freedom and flexibility for industry members in the functioning of Export Promotion Councils which are industry bodies, the ministry has decided to withdraw its representatives from all textiles export promotion councils.