The West Bengal Government has asked the Hindustan Motors management to outline a plan for making its Uttarpara unit functional by this weekend. According to sources present at the first tripartite meeting on Tuesday since work was suspended at the plant on May 24, State Labour Department Secretary Amol Roy Chowdhury told the management to clarify in the next two days on how it plans to reduce liabilities and resume operations at the plant.

In a statement, the company said it was “committed to pay off all back wages as soon as it has the funds from the sale of assets”.

“The restructuring exercise is a necessary step to evaluate all options,” the management said.

The company has requested for a suitable time frame within which it can restructure the organisation and significantly reduce its liabilities, it said. “Till such time, (the company) will continue to be engaged with the State Government in an effort to restructure the organisation.”

The management had skipped an earlier tripartite meeting called by the Labour Department in May.

In June, the company paid half of the monthly wages of December 2013 as “advance payment” to its Uttarpara employees.

It is also learnt to have terminated services of some of the management. Over 2,000 workers are currently on the rolls of the plant. Till the April-end, the company had accumulated outstanding liabilities amounting to ₹94 crore.

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