Other companies which have put in both technical and financial bids for Modern Foods are General Mills, Earth Greens and Diageo (all US companies), Nestle, CA Processing Industries and Om Bakeries.

The process of privatising MFIL is expected to be completed by December 15, for which the bids were closed on October 15, official sources said.

While Diageo has made the bid through Godrej Pillsbury, CDC was likely to forge join ventures for taking over Modern Foods, which is a household name in India, sources said.

Government had earlier announced sale of 74 per cent in MFIL to a strategic partner even though the Disinvestment Commission had recommended an outright sale.

The Department of Food Processing has already constituted a committee underadditional secretary C S Rao to evaluate the bids. The evaluation committee would first examine technical bids of all the ten companies and decide their eligibility to be considered for the financial bid, sources said.

"The technical bid would reveal whether the companies in the fray are capable of converting Modern Foods into a profitable and viable undertaking," sources said.

HLL, Nestle, Britannia and CA Processing Industries conducted independent due diligence of Modern Foods though ANZ Grindlays Bank, the global advisor to MFIL had earlier conducted a due diligence of the company's total capital for the benefit of interested companies.

An independent valuer appointed by the government had earlier put the assets of the company at Rs 109 crore. According to the draft shareholders agreement of the Modern Foods management with the companies, the new management would be able to slash its workforce by offering a better package than the government's voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for a period of oneyear from the date of take-over.

About 280 employees have already accepted the VRS being offered by the management and another 30 employees at the managerial level also have requested for the scheme, sources said. However, due to lack of funds these employees have not been able to take the VRS, they added.