Partha Bhattacharya To Be MD
2001 Swapan Bhowmik joined HPL as president (polymer)
2003 Bhowmik became CEO after Richard saldhana, who was brought in as MD, quit
2005 Bhowmik appointed managing director
2007 Bhowmik reappointed MD by bengal government for another three years. Purnedu chatterjee, chairman of TCG, resisted the appointment but was overruled by the state government
2010 Bhowmik’s term extended for a year but it was made clear that there would not be any further extension. HPL board sets up search panel to select an MD
2011 Bhowmik retires in March. Former Coal India chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya is the new MD
Former Coal India chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya is set to become the new managing director of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), Bengal’s showpiece industrial project.
The search committee of the company headed by HPL chairman Tarun Das finalised his name for the top job recently and sent an official circular to all the stakeholders.
Bhattacharyya has been verbally told about the decision that was pending for the last few months. He is expected to take charge from April 1 after Swapan Bhowmik, the incumbent, retires this month.
The former CIL chairman, who is credited with launching India’s largest initial public offering last year that reaped rich rewards for millions of small investors, will have to get a no-objection from the Centre before taking up the job.
He retired from CIL on February 28 and according to a central notification, he cannot take up any job with a private company in the next one year without government sanction. There is unlikely to be any problem with his appointment since Coal India has no commercial dealings with HPL.
The Centre is expected to convey its decision within a month of Bhattacharyya making the application. The HPL board is likely to meet by March 24 to finalise the terms of his appointment and issue a formal letter. But Bhattacharyya may submit his application to the government on the basis of recent verbal communication if he wants to come on board by April 1. The other contender for the HPL top job was Mahesh Lal, former chairman and managing director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.
Bhattacharyya’s appointment is unanimous as it has the support of the two principal promoters — the Bengal government through the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the Chatterjee Group (TCG) — and financial institutions led by IDBI.
TCG chairman Purnendu Chatterjee had first proposed Bhattacharyya’s name but the state government had its reservations.
As a result, the selection process slowed down. State industry minister Nirupam Sen finally gave his approval. The WBIDC and TCG have been locked in a legal battle over the management control of HPL, which is under effective control of the state.
Bhattacharyya has been preferred over others because of his local connection. He has been a good manager with an excellent track record. Two other factors in his favour are his finance background and the capability of handing labour issues.
Troubled Times
The finances of HPL are in a spot of bother — the company is suffering losses owing to twin duty drawbacks: the central import duty on naphtha and local sales tax on the sale of petrol. It expanded capacity by 30 per cent but production is yet to settle down fully.
2001 Swapan Bhowmik joined HPL as president (polymer)
2003 Bhowmik became CEO after Richard saldhana, who was brought in as MD, quit
2005 Bhowmik appointed managing director
2007 Bhowmik reappointed MD by bengal government for another three years. Purnedu chatterjee, chairman of TCG, resisted the appointment but was overruled by the state government
2010 Bhowmik’s term extended for a year but it was made clear that there would not be any further extension. HPL board sets up search panel to select an MD
2011 Bhowmik retires in March. Former Coal India chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya is the new MD
Former Coal India chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya is set to become the new managing director of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), Bengal’s showpiece industrial project.
The search committee of the company headed by HPL chairman Tarun Das finalised his name for the top job recently and sent an official circular to all the stakeholders.
Bhattacharyya has been verbally told about the decision that was pending for the last few months. He is expected to take charge from April 1 after Swapan Bhowmik, the incumbent, retires this month.
The former CIL chairman, who is credited with launching India’s largest initial public offering last year that reaped rich rewards for millions of small investors, will have to get a no-objection from the Centre before taking up the job.
He retired from CIL on February 28 and according to a central notification, he cannot take up any job with a private company in the next one year without government sanction. There is unlikely to be any problem with his appointment since Coal India has no commercial dealings with HPL.
The Centre is expected to convey its decision within a month of Bhattacharyya making the application. The HPL board is likely to meet by March 24 to finalise the terms of his appointment and issue a formal letter. But Bhattacharyya may submit his application to the government on the basis of recent verbal communication if he wants to come on board by April 1. The other contender for the HPL top job was Mahesh Lal, former chairman and managing director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.
Bhattacharyya’s appointment is unanimous as it has the support of the two principal promoters — the Bengal government through the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the Chatterjee Group (TCG) — and financial institutions led by IDBI.
TCG chairman Purnendu Chatterjee had first proposed Bhattacharyya’s name but the state government had its reservations.
As a result, the selection process slowed down. State industry minister Nirupam Sen finally gave his approval. The WBIDC and TCG have been locked in a legal battle over the management control of HPL, which is under effective control of the state.
Bhattacharyya has been preferred over others because of his local connection. He has been a good manager with an excellent track record. Two other factors in his favour are his finance background and the capability of handing labour issues.
Troubled Times
The finances of HPL are in a spot of bother — the company is suffering losses owing to twin duty drawbacks: the central import duty on naphtha and local sales tax on the sale of petrol. It expanded capacity by 30 per cent but production is yet to settle down fully.
Next Story
