The Government of West Bengal has invited expressions of interest for disinvestment of its entire shareholding in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL). The State Government currently holds 39.99 per cent of HPL’s equity capital as well as 100 per cent of its preference share capital.
In a public announcement, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt Ltd, the transaction advisor to the Government for the proposed disinvestment, said the West Bengal Government “intends to disinvest its entire equity and preference shareholding in HPL through a competitive bidding process with the objective of reviving and restructuring the company.”
HPL operates an integrated petrochemical complex with a naphtha cracking capacity of nearly 700 KTA at Haldia, an industrial port hub around 125 km south of Kolkata.
The complex is spread over 1,200 acres with its township encompassing an additional 250 acres.
The State holds equity stake in HPL through the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the preference share capital through the WBIDC, the West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIIDC) and the West Bengal Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (WBIDFC).