Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL) in East Midnapore district has been a prominent petrochemical hub since it was built in the 1980s. And now, as West Bengal looks at an industrial resurgence, expansions of HPL are on by the public sector oil company, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
“Indian Oil Corporation will build another petrochemical in West Bengal. I will provide land,” said Suvendu Adhikari without giving out finer details of the project.
Adhikari was speaking at the curtain raiser of India Energy Week (IEW), a mega event in December, where Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri was present.
The CM termed the growth of Haldia Petrochemicals as a golden opportunity.
As part of the initial plan, 85 acres of land have been given by Haldia Development Authority(HDA), while IOC requires 175 acres of land. Adhikari went on to explain that he has spoken to Haldia Port Trust and the Kolkata Port Trust Dock Complex unit to ensure IOC gets land.
“I have taken this up on my own. I have spoken to IOC and KoPT (Kolkata Port Trust) so that IOC gets that land. Before private players, as per the norms, at the same rate IOC should get first priority over private players. If this happens, we will send it to the board, which will consider,” added Adhikari.
Reflecting on the past, the CM said that IOC had invested ₹2,100 crore; now it is running at a huge profit. “The growth and satisfactory outcome is a golden opportunity,” added Adhikari.
Puri, who was seated with Adhikari, praised the latter for his speed and efforts in West Bengal’s resurgence and the benefits of the “double engine sarkar”.
