Out of Court settlement on the cards for Haldia Petrochemicals?

28-Nov-05

TCG (Chatterjee Group), almost 4 months ago, had approached the Company Law Board (CLB), challenging the decision to include Indian Oil in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. Responding to a plea from TCG, the CLB had previously asked both the parties to explore options to resolve differences amicably. As the controversy continues to linger for four months now, with no solution in sight, TCG Chairman, Purnendu Chatterjee, met West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister for an out-of-court settlement of the issue. Chatterjee, has reaffirmed its views against allowing Indian Oil taking control of the project as he is of the opinion that the goal of converting HPL into a Bengal-based conglomerate cannot be achieved by making it a subsidiary of a big company. TCG has expressed interest in the buyback of the State Government's holding in HPL. The meeting is unlikely to solve the HPL imbroglio and is believed to be the beginning of a long-drawn process of negotiation between the two warring partners. It is also unlikely that Chatterjee has arrived with the money to buy out the State Government's stake in Haldia Petrochemicals. So while the meeting will mark an end to the face-off, any final settlement process appears still far off.