<p>The State government on Monday set the stage for reopening of private factories in the cashew sector by getting scheduled commercial banks to examine the possibilities of infusing fresh funding to put them back on rail.Fisheries and Cashew Development Minister Mercykutty Amma, who took the initiative to set up a meeting of owners of closed cashew factories and the banks here, said in a statement that the banks had expressed their willingness to infuse funds for the revival of these private factories on the basis of new agreements.</p> <p>Several private cashew factories came under the non-performing assets category of the banks. The banks have been refusing permission to the owners to resume production in view of the over dues.The debt burden, including interest and interest burden was going up by the day, leading to a situation where the owner would never be able to get back his property.</p> <p>The possibilities of the banks recovering their amounts by auctioning the factories was also remote. It was in this context that the Government took the initiative to set the stage for their reopening.She said that the factory owners would hold separate discussions with the respective banks on the basis of the revival project report for sanction of working capital as fresh loan.</p> <p>The Minister claimed that the meeting had set the stage for reopening as many as 200 factories. The factory owned too had come forward to form a consortium to mobilise the capital for revival of the units.Ms. Mercykutty Amma said that the newly formed Cashew Board would ensure supply of raw cashew at fair price, besides entering into a buy-back arrangement for procuring processed cashew.</p> <p>The meeting was attended by RBI assistant general manager S. Sooraj, SLBC convenor G.K. Maya, SLBC senior manager G. Nandakumar, State Bank of India general manager Sreekumar, Federal Bank manager Thomas Mathew, Federal Bank senior manager Pradeep Vasant, Cashew Manufacturers and Exporters Association president S. Ravindran Nair, and representatives of other private factories.</p>