Suppliers from other States stage protest seeking clearance of dues by Kerala Civil Supplies Corporation

Suppliers from five States protest in Kochi, demanding ₹650 crore dues from Supplyco. They fear bank action and property attachment if dues not cleared. Supplyco owes ₹1,500 crore to suppliers from five States, who are unable to pay GST on their supplies.

Suppliers from other States, who are supplying materials to the Kerala Civil Supplies Corporation, held a protest in Kochi on Kerala formation day on Wednesday, demanding clearing of their dues by the apex cooperative. The suppliers said Supplyco owed them more than ₹650 crore.

The suppliers said that six months’ dues should be immediately cleared to avoid action by their lender banks. The protest was held before the headquarters of Supplyco in Gandhi Nagar, said a press release here.

Over the past six months, the apex consumer cooperative has not paid its suppliers. The suppliers availed overdraft to supply the materials to Supplyco. However, they are not in a position even to pay the interest on these overdrafts, the suppliers from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu besides from Kerala itself said.

The suppliers also said they had been forced to launch an open protest with bank action imminent and they feared the attachment of their property by banks. Supplyco owes around ₹1,500 crore to suppliers from five different States. The suppliers are not even in a position to pay the GST on their supplies, they added.