Bengal Chemicals will not be closed down, Centre assures workers

Union Chemical and fertilizer minister Ananth Kumar on Friday assured a workers' delegation led by TMC MP Sougata Roy that iconic Pharmaceutical Industry of Kolkata would not be closed down. Last year in December, Union cabinet presided by Prime minister Narendra Modi had decided strategic sale of Bengal Chemicals.

Government had also formed a three member cabinet committee headed by Kumar to supervise the strategic sale. It was also decided that if no buyer was found for the Government share then factory would be closed.

The Central Government would sell the land of the factory and would pay the dues of the workers as much as possible.

Now it's been almost three months over. No buyer was found for stratagic sale of the share. The workers of the factory feared that the Government now would close down the factory. For that reason they had rushed to Delhi to meet the Union minister. After meeting the Union Minister, MP Sougata Roy on Friday told the media that minister had assured them the iconic Pharmacutical companywould not be closed. This was the first privatisation since sale of Jessop and Co in 2003-04 under the NDA Government headed by PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

BPCL and HAL are among the public sector units that NITI AYOG has identified for sale of Governments majority stake to private companies.