The Hindu : Business : Chatterjee readies Rs.4,000 crore projects

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011
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Chatterjee readies Rs.4,000 crore projects

Special Correspondent

Wants Haldia Petro denotified as an oil company

KOLKATA: Sensing the winds of change blowing through the state, Purnendu Chatterjee, the key promoter of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) is hopeful of being able to make a break with the past and take HPL to the next level.

On Monday, he became one of the first industry-chiefs to announce new projects since the Mamata Banerjee-government assumed power on May 20. In a meeting with the government, he also sought some relief measures including denotification of HPL as an oil company. The notification done in 2006, causes a daily loss of Rs. 1 crore to HPL.

He said that eight projects involving an investment of Rs.4,000 crore were ready and private equity could be brought in to fund them. However, everything would hinge on a quick settlement of the equity control issue.

Mr.Chatterjee also said that HPL had written to WBIDC on the setting up of three poly-parks which will house manufacturing industries. These parks would need 100 acres each and land at the three identified sites — in Haldia, Kharagpur and Panagarh — was already available with WBIDC. In these projects HPL's investment would be minimal.

Keen to shore up its sagging bottom line, HPL has also formed a solutions marketing group which will provide solutions to the agricultural sector which will boost farm productivity, help protect and shield crops from weather while increasing HPL's market share in this region from the present 25 per cent.

Addressing one of his first press conferences in a decade, HPL's Vice-Chairman Mr. Chatterjee told the media that there was scope for an out-of-the-court settlement to the six-year-old battle with the state government over ownership of HPL, a joint venture, in which The Chatterjee Group and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation are the main promoters. IOC also holds some stake in this company. Soon after, Mr. Chatterjee met the State Chief Secretary and appealed for a slew of measures to pull HPL out of the financial stress that it is in now.

Mr Chatterjee wants Ms Banerjee to write to the Centre (of which her party is an important constituent) so that the naphtha duty is waived and HPL is denotified as an oil company enabling it to claim the sales tax remission of motor oil spirit that was promised to it and an extension of the sales tax concession package.

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