Haldia/Kolkata: The Chatterjee Group (TCG) will invest another Rs 10,000 crore in downstream projects of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), CM Suvendu Adhikari announced on Wednesday after inaugurating a phenol and acetone plant of Adperma, a wholly owned subsidiary of the group-run petrochemical company.“This (phenol and acetone plant) is one of the largest plants in the world. The group has invested Rs 6,000 crore in this project and another Rs 10,000 crore investment is in the pipeline,” the CM said in the presence of TCG founder-chairman Purnendu Chatterjee. “Raw materials for the products will be manufactured at the plant rather than sourced from outside. This project sets as an example for PM Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat. The people of Bengal depended on allowances. We are trying to make them self-reliant.”The plant can produce 3.4 lakh tonnes of phenol and 2.1 lakh tonnes of acetone in a year. The MD and CEO of HPL, Navanit Narayan, had earlier said more phenolic products would be manufactured in the Haldia complex.The CM urged the TCG founder to set up a data centre in the state. “The govt will give you land. Bengal needs you and the govt wants to cooperate with you,” Adhikari told Chatterjee.TCG chairman Purnendu Chatterjee said land acquisition in Haldia had faced hurdles. “The new govt has resolved the issue and the project was inaugurated today. We hope the upcoming industrial policy will add tailwind to industrial development in the state,” he said.Asked about the proposed Rs 10,000 crore investment by TCG, Chatterjee said, “We may expand with value-added products and speciality chemicals”. As for the data centre, he said, “We are looking for convenient land — may be in Kolkata or Haldia — for the project. The CM has assured us of help (in getting the land).”Describing a change in Bengal’s investment climate, Adhikari said RPSG chairman Sanjeev Goenka has expressed his desire to set up power plants in Haldia and Barrackpore through Haldia Energy Ltd. “Haldia Development Authority (HDA) has given 98 acres for a Pepsi plant and another 50 acres to a company to set up a medical equipment plant,” he said.The CM also announced that a trauma care centre would come up in Hadia by 2027 for the treatment of workers injured at work. “During my tenure as HDA chairman, Indian Oil Corporation had donated Rs 5 crore from its CSR funds to establish a trauma care centre. By June 2027, Haldia will have a fully operational 50-bed trauma centre, which will include a specialised burns unit. HDA is providing Rs 18 crore from its funds and the Centre has sanctioned another Rs 5 crore under Health Mission for the project,” he said.In his address, Adhikari urged companies to recruit ITI graduates through campus placement. “I request technical education minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay to visit the ITI in Durgachak and identify the infrastructure upgrades it needs,” he said.
