Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), eastern India's biggest petrochemicals company, has received a fresh loan of Rs 116 crore from State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank (PNB). This follows the induction of an SBI nominee on HPL's board last week.
As a consequence, the operational capacity of the plant has risen above the 80 per cent level after a long gap. The lenders agreed to extend the additional credit as HPL has given strong signals of reporting an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of around eight per cent in March, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
"Finally, we have got an additional credit line of Rs 90 crore from the SBI and Rs 26 crore from PNB. HPL will post marginal Ebitda loss in February and profit in March. Production capacity has reached 80 per cent and it is further going up," he said.
HPL has been operating at below 50 per cent operational capacity from September as the principal promoters — the West Bengal government and The Chatterjee Group (TCG) — and the lenders, failed to bring in additional funds.
According to company officials, more positive news in the form of an Rs 800-crore loan might be round the corner, if the plant continues to operate as it is doing now. Negotiations are on to make the principal promoters bring in Rs 200 crore.
The petrochem market had turned around and the line of credit will give a fresh lease of life to the ailing company. If things work out well and promoters inject some funds then the signature project of the state government might turn around.
The share auction evaluation process, now on, is expected to be completed this month. The state government plans to sell its 40 per cent stake in the troubled joint venture.
West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, through which the government holds controlling stake in HPL, had approached the state government seeking a loan of Rs 100 crore but no response has come forth so far. Earleir, TCG's Purnendu Chatterjee had given indications of his willingness to inject Rs 500 crore into the company, but he is seeking management control without which he is not willing to release the funds.
