Britannia not leaving Bengal, says TMC govt amid suspense over Kolkata factory’s fate

At a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna, Mitra said he spoke with Managing Director of Britannia Industries, Varun Berry, who told him the company was “fully committed” to West Bengal.

“The company told me that Britannia as a company is fully committed to West Bengal and they have not stopped production. Today itself, the company produced biscuits worth Rs 1,200 crore,” Mitra said.

“Its (Britannia’s) registered office will stay in Kolkata. The shareholders’ meetings will continue to take place in Kolkata,” he added.

Notably, Britannia’s Taratala factory, established in 1947, was one of the oldest in the company’s portfolio and carried historical significance as one of its second-ever production units in India.

At the company’s Taratala factory, which reportedly ceased production in May this year, 122 permanent employees and approximately 250 contractual staff worked, many of them have been with the factory for over a decade.

Sources said that the Britannia Industries management has offered Rs 13 lakh to employees with up to 5 years and 11 months of remaining job tenure, Rs 18.5 lakh for employees with 6 to 10 years of remaining tenure, and Rs 22.25 lakh for those with more than 10 years remaining.

In a recent stock exchange filing, the company said that all permanent workers at its Taratala factory in Kolkata have availed VRS offer. The management has also started discussions with contractual workers for VRS, said sources. “This is to inform you that a voluntary retirement scheme offered by the company to the workers at its factory situated at Taratala, Kolkata, West Bengal, has been accepted by all the permanent workers,” said a stock exchange filing from Britannia.

An official of the company, however, said that acceptance of VRS by all the permanent workers of the plant will not have a material impact on the business operations of the company.

While the 120-odd permanent staff have accepted the VRS offer, the company has not stated what will be the fate of the factory after their exit.

Located on a plot of land given to it on lease by Kolkata Port Trust (now Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust) more than seven decades ago, sources said, the FMCG firm’s current lease for the 11-acre plot runs till 2048, with the company having renewed it in 2018. Besides Kolkata, the food company has plants in Bihar, Odisha, and Assam in the eastern region.