The October 31 decision of Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT) to move out of Haldia Port, citing concern for the safety of its employees, may prove to be yet another setback for the much-awaited industrial revival in the State. A joint venture between the Mumbai-based ABG Infralogistics and the French logistics major Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, HBT was the highest revenue earner for Haldia port, but faced violent agitation after it retrenched 275 workers. The agitation was allegedly led by the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congressthe labour wing of the ruling Trinamool Congress. Matters came to a head when senior company officials and their family members were allegedly made to leave Haldia at gunpoint in the early hours of October 28. We cannot work in an environment where the authorities responsible for ensuring law and order have openly abandoned their responsibilities, said Gurpreet Singh Malhi, the chief executive officer of HBT.
The two berths under HBT had suspended operations from September 25. On October 16, the company moved the Calcutta High Court. The court expressed dismay at the utter apathy of the local administration to the complaint of HBT, but Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee denied there was any problem.
The fiasco once again raised questions about the ruling partys attitude towards industries. Parallels are being drawn with the Singur agitation four years ago, which forced Tata Motors to shift its Nano car project to Gujarat. That prolonged and violent agitation was led by Mamata herself, then in the opposition. In the case of Singur, the CPI(M)-led government tried to protect the project, while in Haldia, a section of the ruling party itself is allegedly involved in the problems, with the government apparently turning a blind eye to them. Mamata Banerjee is driving the last nail into the coffin of West Bengals industrial hopes, Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Surjya Kanta Mishra told Frontline.
HBTs departure has not only put 358 more people out of work but has also worsened the plight of the users of Haldia port. Ultimately, it is the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) that is the main loser. HBT operated at a cost-effective rate of Rs.227 a tonne, of which it paid KoPT Rs.150 a tonnemore than double that the KoPT earns from the other berths. HBT claimed that it had suffered losses of Rs.60 crore in the last two years against an investment of Rs.150 crore. It maintained that its operations would still have been viable if the KoPT had allowed it to handle 9 million tonnes (MT) of dry bulk cargo annually, instead of the 5 MT average. This, though more profitable for KoPT, would have eaten into the share of the business of other companies. The port, however, does not earn any revenue from these companies, one of the largest of which is Ripley & Co. Ltd, owned by the family of Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Swapan Sadhan Bose.
According to an informed source, herein lay the seed of the recent problem in Haldia: It is essentially a struggle for space between the traditional cargo handling companies and the new ones coming to operate in their domain. HBT had faced problems since it signed its contract with KoPT in 2009. In fact, for the first six months of its operation, a section of the port workers did not let the company place its equipment in the dock area.
Suhrid Sankar ChattopadhyayCOMMents
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