The Calcutta High Court has requested ABG Haldia Bulk Terminals Pvt Ltd to continue operations at Haldia port till September 12.

ABG Haldia Bulk Terminals, a joint venture between ABG-LDA Bulk Handling Pvt Ltd and Kolkata Port Trust, handles about 5.5 million tonnes of dry bulk cargo at berth No 2 and 8 at Haldia currently. Last month, the company threatened to suspend operations from September 8 at the port unless it was provided with a commitment by KoPT to allocate 9 million tonnes of cargo.

According a statement issued by ABG-LDA, KoPT had filed an application before the Court on September 6 for a stay order on the suspension of operations by the company under Section 9 of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

In an interim order, Justice Sanjeeb Banerjee on Friday directed that he would hear the petition filed by KoPT on September 10, the statement said.

“In today’s hearing at the Calcutta High Court, the matter was treated as ex-parte as we were not even served with a copy of the petition. In view of the aforesaid, we have decided to defer the suspension of our operations till September 12,” Gurpreet Malhi, Chief Executive Officer of ABG-LDA, said.

In an interaction with Business Line on Thursday, Malhi said: “Currently, we cannot utilise our full capacity at Haldia and losses are projected at Rs 2 crore per month going forward.” According to Malhi, the company is looking forward to use at least 70 per cent of its capacity at the two berths if KoPT comes up with an amicable solution.

Sources said that KoPT had earlier promised the company that it would form a joint committee to look into their demands.

> ayan.pramanik @thehindu.co.in

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