Ranchi, Aug. 24: In a blow to the ailing Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction has suggested the Union heavy industries ministry to shut down the six-decade-old corporation unless the Centre and the HEC management came up with a viable package.

In a letter to the heavy industries ministry, BIFR has said HEC had been referred to it in 1992 and was pulled out of the red two years later after the Centre, along with the then Bihar government and financial institutions, offered it a revival package of more than Rs 700 crore.

The letter added that despite the “handsome” revival scheme, HEC failed miserably to either meet its production or sales targets, as determined by BIFR or to secure adequate work orders to remain afloat.

It added that HEC continued to suffer from an acute shortage of working capital, its work orders at hand were “alarmingly low” and despite the “all-round gloom”, the corporation continued to be plagued by labour unrest.

The letter noted that even the Centre was unwilling to provide more financial assistance to HEC to help put it back on the rails.

The letter said the present management and the Centre, had expressed unwillingness to run the corporation creating uncertainty in the company, which is known as “the mother of all industries”.

Given the adverse circumstances, BIFR letter pointed out that it was unlikely that HEC would survive any longer unless the centre and HEC and the management came up with concrete proposals.