Calcutta, Aug. 7: The state government has thrown a spanner in the Metal Box management’s efforts to sell its Alipore property.

The state industrial reconstruction department has asked the urban development ministry to stop the sale of the 43-cottah plot.

The department, headed by industry minister Nirupam Sen, said the company must pay off the dues of the workers before selling the property.

Metal Box, which closed down almost two decades ago, had its research and development division on 92/1 Alipore Road.

Going by soaring real estate prices, the property could be valued at Rs 1,015 crore.

“We have come to know that the company is trying to sell the Alipore property. Given that it has failed to implement the rehabilitation scheme sanctioned by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), which included opening the Calcutta factory and paying off workers, we have decided not to allow the sale,” said an official in the department of public enterprises and industrial reconstruction.

The department has requested the urban development ministry not to allow change of names.

However, the rehabilitation scheme of 2000 had envisaged selling properties, including that in Alipore, to raise resources for its implementation.

The government official also said the company has the right to sell the property.

A Metal Box official said the company has initiated talks with the state government to lift the ban on asset sale.

“The company will be able to pay off all dues of the workers in Calcutta faster if we can raise money by selling the Alipore property,” the official added.

He said the management has paid off all dues to 700 workers in Calcutta. It is also making payments to another 750. These 1,450 workers have retired after operations were suspended in 1987. The company still has 550 people on its rolls.

“After we pay off those who have retired, we can think of starting operations here,” he said, admitting that the company has slipped on the implementation timeframe of the rehabilitation scheme where ICICI Bank is the lead agency.

“We would not like to comment on this subject at this juncture,” an ICICI Bank spokesperson said.