The sale of West Bengal Government’s stake in the ailing Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd is expected to be completed by November, state Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee has said.
“We expect the process of divestment to be complete by November,” Chatterjee said here today on the sidelines of an interactive session with Nordic ambassadors to India from Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Norway at the Indian Chamber of Commerce.
The Minister said the advertisement seeking expression of interest in HPL is expected to come out any day over the next one week.
The earlier target set by the State Government to hive off its stake in HPL was June 2013.
Consultancy farm Deloitte has been engaged as the transaction advisor for the proposed stake sale on behalf of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC).
WBIDC is the nodal agency which holds 40 per cent share in the loss-making HPL, which was set up during Jyoti Basu’s stewardship to act as a catalyst in improving the State’s industrial scenario.
TCG, the other leading stakeholder, has claimed majority ownership and management control in HPL and is fighting a legal battle.