Senior union office bearers told The Financial Express: "We plan to approach the Dhoots and will request them to pull out from this agreement. We have the backing of all our employee-members."

Philips India had responded to the employees offer by saying that the union's offer will be examined only if the `agreement of sale' with Videocon falls through.

The unions have challenged Philips plan of selling the CTV unit at `such a low price of Rs 9 crore' against a valuation of Rs 28 crore made by independent valuers Dalal Consultants.

Philips India officials have said that the sale price was arrived at after considering the liabilitiesthat the Videocon group would have to absorb along with the 359 workers of the plant. This includes the gratuity and leave-encashment liabilities of the workers who are being absorbed under the same service agreements.

Philips India managing director K Ramachandran said the company has had extensive negotiations with financial institutions over the proposed sale of its two units. The second unit up for sale is the passive components unit near Pune which will be sold after the Dutch parent's decision to get out of the business worldwide.

Ramachandran termed the company's talks with FIs as `satisfactory', adding that it was his personal view. "I can only hope that Philips has been able to clear any doubts of the sale of the two units that the FIs may have had."

He said that it would be wrong to construe initial opposition from the FIs as their way of not backing the sale. "It is only that the institutions did not have enough time on their hands to study our proposal in detail, and hence they would nothave been able to make an informed decision," Ramachandran said.

"Philips has not pressurised the institutions to make public their decision. It is all up to the FIs now," he added. The `agreement of sale' with Videocon is valid till March 31, 1999, and can be extended on mutual agreement. The buyout is being funded by Videocon group company Kitchen Appliances of India, a Rs 200-crore company, which proposes to set up an integrated consumer electronics and white goods facility there.