Hindustan Motors’s top officials on Thursday met the West Bengal Labour Minister Purnendu Basu and promised to make “partial advance” on Monday to the 2,600 employees of the Uttarpara unit against their wage arrears. The management paid November’s wages in March to the plant employees.

The Minister told Business Line after the meeting that the company on Thursday, for the first time, informed the Department that they have moved the BIFR in February following erosion of the company’s net worth. The company, he said, also informed the State Government of the suspension of work at its Uttarpara plant in the State days after it clamped the notice on May 24.

“The fact that the company failed to take the State Government into confidence on issues was pointed out to the management at the meeting today,” the Minister said. The management acknowledged that it had piled up sales tax and land tax arrears with the State Government.

The Minister said the management representatives promised to meet him again on Tuesday. “At present, the Labour Department is seized of the labour payment arrears before the suspension and the reopening of the plant. I have discussed the issues of other arrears of the company to the State Government with the Finance Minister Amit Mitra. The State Government’s other departments would engage with the management in the near future over other such issues”, Basu said.

The management, the Minister said, also informed him about its inability to run the operations of the plant and its attempts to restructure the company by bringing in a partner. Since, the management has referred the subject to the BIFR, the Government would have to get involved in the long-drawn process if it intends to do so for its own claims as well as for the workers, the observers said.