West Bengal Govt agrees to give Rs 100 crores to HPL

摘要

WEST Bengal government, which holds nearly 40 per cent stake in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd through WBIDC, has agreed to provide Rs 100 crore to the company as demanded by the lenders, within a period of 15 days, as per press reports. An agreement would be shortly signed between the government and WBIDC, the sources added. To tide over the working capital crunch, HPL had approached the consortium of lenders to provide Rs 1000 crore. The lenders in turn asked both the promoters, WBIDC and TCG, to provide Rs 100 crore each. While the government agreed with the proposal, TCG said it would not be able to provide the money as sought by the lenders. Lenders of HPL are mulling release of Rs 400 crore after West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) gave an in-principle approval to extend a term loan of Rs 100 crore to HPL. SBI, IDBI Bank and PNB are the lead bankers. After a brief board meeting, HPL chairman Partha Chatterjee said, "In a speedy move, they are going to have a meeting on May 25 for releasing Rs 400 crore at the moment. They will take into consideration the CDR options and take a final call." Once the state government exits HPL, its stake acquirer will have to repay the Rs 100 crore loan to WBIDC, which in turn will be paid back to the state government.