BUDGET 2000
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
COMMENTARY
GOVT&ECONOMY
Y2K: BIZ FEATURES
INDIA & THE WTO
CREDIT POLICY
BIZ IN THE USA
CARS & MOBIKES
MANAGEMENT
CASE STUDY
BIZ-QUIZ
USEFUL INFO
ARCHIVES
NEWSLINKS
SEARCH REDIFF

Haldia Petrochemicals commissioned amidst much fanfare

Zakia Maryam in Haldia, West Bengal

The West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu on Sunday commissioned the Rs 51.70-billion Haldia Petrochemicals plant and dedicated it to the nation saying the mega-project would help revive the industry-sick state.

Basu, lit a lamp at 11 am IST, ending the speculation over the commissioning of what has been deemed the largest integrated greenfield petrochemicals project in the country. The project was commissioned amidst a lot of festivity.

Basu said the Haldia project is a watershed in the industrial rejuvenation of the state and will bring about a real turnaround of the industrial scenario by triggering off a chain of new investments in the downstream segments.

Also present on the occasion were Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, the Haldia Petrochemicals Corporation chairman Tapan Mitra, West Bengal Industrial and Development Corporation chairman Somnath Chatterjee, the state Finance Minister Aim Dasgupta, the state's Deputy Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, and the state's Minister for Commerce and Industry Bidyut Ganguly.

The Marxist leader said, "I am very happy at the commissioning of the Haldia project. This project will help rejuvenate the state's economy. Actually, this should have been dedicated to the people of Bengal long ago, but due to the Centre's step-motherly attitude we had to wait for two decades for this day."

"It was in 1977 when the then Union Minister for Petroleum, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, first visited the site to assess the viability of setting up this project in Haldia. However, since then, the successive governments in Delhi, never really showed any interest towards the Haldia project as if Bengal wasn't a part of India," Basu rued.

Basu appealed to all political parties asking them to restrain from petty politics on the matters that entailed country's progress.

"I was in opposition too, but I never indulged in activities that would jeopardise developmental works. That the Haldia project has been completed in a record 37 months, corroborates our commitment towards reviving the state's economy even without the central government's support," he added.

Addressing the audience, Chatterjee said, "Though it will not provide direct job opportunities, I am told that over three lakh people would benefit from the Haldia project. Work on 470 new projects, whose functioning would directly be linked with the Haldia project, has started. I am convinced that a new Bengal would emerge now."

Dasgupta described the Haldia Petrochemicals as a millennium project and first of its kind in India. He said that the project would cater to the needs of at least 300 million people across the country so far as their demands for the plastic goods were concerned.

"Plastic goods have been mostly imported at exorbitant prices. But with production at the Haldia project beginning, we will be able supply the same our people at much cheaper rates," he said.

"Production at the plants will commence this month, but our challenge now is to start the downstream project. Once this is complete, it will see 354 more small-scale industrial units coming up in a year in West Bengal. The number of such employment-generating projects is likely to increase to 1,350. All we need is the entrepreneurs' co-operation."

Speaking on the occasion, Ratan Tata said, "I am impressed by Jyoti Basu's commitment to completion of this project. My experience with the West Bengal government has been excellent and that has encouraged me to invest more money in Bengal."

Additional inputs: UNI

Business