Mumbai, June 15: Premier Automobiles Ltd (PAL) on Tuesday said it was talking to several banks and financial institutions for working capital funds required to resume full production of `Premier Padmini' cars. "The production of Premier Padmini has been affected in the last few months due to temporary working capital shortage faced by the company," PAL said in a statement. PAL requires liquid capital to procure materials required to manufacture about 750 cars a month. The manufacturing cost per car ranges from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh."We have no plans to discontinue Premier Padmini. PAL will continue to produce it to serve the taxi and other market segments as long as there is demand for it," PAL managing director Maitreya Doshi said.
"We are hopeful of resolving the working capital issue soon and will commence full production in the near future," Doshi said.
PAL has a steady demand for Premier Padmini cars for taxi application of about 400 units per month, besides the demand in rural/semi-urban areasof many states.
PAL is also making necessary technical upgradation as per the government-stipulated dates.
The company has hived off its manufacturing facility at Kurla in north-east Mumbai into a joint venture with Fiat of Italy, with the latter having a 51 per cent stake.
PAL gets Premier Padmini cars manufactured at the plant for a fee.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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