Haldia Petrochemicals gears up for re-start after seven months

After a prolonged closure, the Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL) plant is in the process of re-starting operations with trial run to begin in the near future.

"The captive power plant has been commissioned as a pre-start up activity. The main plant start-up should happen anytime now", a source in HPL told PTI.

He said stabilisation of the power plant would take some days, after which steps would be initiated for operating the mother plant, closed since July 2014. HPL is a modern naphtha based Petrochemical Complex located about 125 kms from here at Haldia.

With the West Bengal government deciding to partially offload its stake in favour of TCG of Purnendu Chatterjee, sources said that everything was now getting tied, particularly, the funds needed for running the plant both from the promoter (TCG) and lenders. Earlier, the West Bengal government had provided Rs 100 crore as margin money as demanded by the lenders, while the other promoter, TCG, was yet to furnish that amount. "Now, TCG has agreed to come up with the margin money while the lenders have also committed funds for running the plant", the source said.

Asked when the main plant could re-start operations, the source said that initially trial run would start to ensure purity of the products that would be sold in the market. "Since the plant was under a prolonged closure, it is important to check the quality of products that would be produced", the source said.

"Once we find that the products coming out of the plant are marketable, then the proper re-start will happen", he said. Although TCG had taken control over the management of HPL with Purnendu Chatterjee's brother Subhasindu Chatterjee assuming the post of director-in-charge of the plant, it is yet to sign the share purchase agreement with the West Bengal government. TCG has sought time from the West Bengal government for buying out around 15 per cent shares of WBIDC, the state government investment promotion arm.