Adityapur resident V.P. Krishnamurthy was elated last week when Rs 14,000 was credited to his bank account. The money was 70 per cent of the sum he had invested in a fixed deposit scheme of Golden Forest India (GFIL) some 25 years ago.

A former bank employee, the 65-year-old had had pursued his colleagues and friends to invest up to Rs 10 lakh in the FD schemes of the non-banking finance company (NBFC). Fortunately, all of them have started receiving 70 per cent of their principal amount.

Sourav Banerjee, a 48-year-old Baridih resident who runs a small marketing business, had invested Rs 30,000 and recently got back Rs 21,000.

One of the largest NBFCs in the country, Golden Forest suddenly closed its offices in the state and elsewhere in 2000. Now, 40,000-odd investors from different parts of Jharkhand, including Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro, have started getting back their dues.

Sudip Mukherjee, general secretary of Golden Forest National Investors Forum, said a three-member committee headed by former judge K.S. Garewal was constituted following a directive from the Supreme Court. A sum of Rs 700 crore was raised through sale of land and other properties of GFIL, which is now being used to pay off dues.

“We are hopeful of getting back the remaining 30 per cent soon,” said Mukherjee who had himself invested around Rs 7 lakh in various Golden Forest FD schemes in the late Nineties.

According to him, many investors are still not aware about the refund. “The forum is trying to reach each of the investors so that they can apply for claims and get back their hard-earned money back,” he added.

Bharatiya Golden Forest Niveshak Manch too welcomed the development. “We had been patient for all these years. Retired employees of railways, banks and various companies like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Heavy Engineering Corporation and Bokaro Steel had invested their money. Many are dead now and others are living in penury. But this is a positive development,” said a senior functionary.

Golden Forest India was a representative of social forestry firms that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. It promised huge returns, sometimes in excess of 20 per cent, and thus attracted a large number of investors — around 55 lakh — across the country.

Sources said most of the directors of the Chandigarh-based NBFC are not alive now. One of the directors, Pamela Syal who stays in Chandigarh, could not be contacted.