114 firms that vanished...

The government on Friday sought investors' help to strengthen its case against 114 companies, that have vanished after raising around Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) through public issues in the capital market boom of 1993-94 and 1994-95.

Of the 114 companies, a list of which is published today in major dailies by the ministry of company affairs, FIRs have been filed against 100 companies.

Company Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta urged duped investors to help authorities, so that FIRs could be filed against all the companies and defaulters be brought to book.

"We are committed for doing everything permitted under law to bring defaulters to book at the earliest. The investors are requested to come forward and help the authorities in accomplishing this mission," Gupta said. During the last one year, more than 20 people have been arrested in this regard, he said.

List of vanishing companies

There were originally 229 companies that had vanished after mopping up around Rs 1,350 crore (Rs 13.5 billion) through public offers, a senior ministry official said.

However, 115 companies have started announcing quarterly results and complying with other mandatory requirements, so their names were deleted from the list of vanishing companies, he said.

Of the 114 companies, a list of which is published today in major dailies by Ministry of Company Affairs, FIRs have been filed against 100 companies.

The list of vanishing companies include Ambjua Zinc Ltd, Prime Capital Market Ltd, Kiev Finance Ltd, Oriental Remedies and Herbals Ltd, Simplex Holdings Ltd, Deccan Petroleum Ltd, Unicorn Pharma Ltd and Aashi Industries Ltd.