Titanium co faces financial crisis amid job fraud row

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the ongoing controversies associated with the job frauds at Travancore Titanium Products Ltd (TTPL), the firm faces acute financial crisis as over 3,000 tonnes of titanium dioxide have been remaining unsold at its godown for months now.
TTPL officials blame the availability of cheap quality titanium dioxide from China in the market as the cause for this crisis. Titanium dioxide produced by China is available in the market at Rs 165 kg when the value of the one manufactured in India is over Rs 200 per kg. It forced TTPL to lower the price to Rs 185 per kg. But selling it at Rs 165 per kg may not be economically viable, said TTPL officials.
Lack of business landed the firm in an acute financial crunch and it runs on an overdraft of Rs 40 crore now, said the officials.
“The quality of our product is far better than the Chinese product but most of the traders prefer Chinese products as they are cheaper. Still there are buyers who trust the quality of our products and we could sell 1,000 tonnes last month. We are hopeful of more business soon to overcome the crisis,” said an officer of TTPL.
The officer of TTPL, however, said that the ongoing controversies associated with the job fraud has not affected its functioning anyway.
“Shyamlal, the main accused in the case, had visited TTPL several times to buy sanitizer for Hercules, in which he was working as an HR manager. During each visit, he had met AGM (legal) at TTPL Sasikumaran Thampi, as they were friends. We were shocked to hear their roles in the job fraud. We have heard of political appointments, but someone taking money for a job here is something unbelievable,” said an official with TTPL.