Cash-strapped retail chain Subhiksha on Tuesday said its ongoing corporate debt restructuring (CDR) will have to end by July this year "at any rate", although it expects the process to be completed before April-end.

"(The) CDR is a time bound process of maximum 180 days.

It has to end at any rate by July 2009," Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd Managing Director R Subramanian said in an e-mail.

He was replying to a query on how much more time would be required for the CDR to be considered as officially over.

Subramanian, however, refused to state clearly whether the company would be making use of the time available till July for the CDR.

"We are merely stating the position that it can't extend beyond 180 days. We are not suggesting that it will get delayed beyond the old estimate (of April end). We believe the restructuring will be agreed before end-April," he said.

"As we are running costs on a daily basis, we would like to take least time than most time. Completion of CDR means completion of all work including formalities of documentation," Subramanian said.