New Delhi, May 18 (IANS): A cabinet panel on Wednesday approved an improved voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) package for employees of the Hindustan Vegetable Oils Corp. (HVOC).

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given approval to the proposal for offering an improved VRS package based on 2007 notional pay scales for the employees of HVOC," an official statement said.

The government assistance will be in the form of non-plan grant of around Rs.27.56 crore to the firm, the cabinet communique said.

"HVOC employees have been adversely impacted due to sickness of the company. They are in very old pay scales of 1992," the CCEA noted.

"The improved VRS package will give fair amount of compensation to employees and help them in their post retirement rehabilitation," it added.

A public sector unit, HVOC was formed in 1984 with the merger of two government-run companies -- Ganesh Flour Mills and Amritsar Oils Works. It was manufacturing vanaspati (vegetable oil), and refining and packing imported edible oil for public distribution.