Kolkata, June 19 (IANS) Partha Bhattacharyya Tuesday resigned as managing director of cash-strapped Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), paving the way for appointment of a West Bengal government nominee for the post.
Former state transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury was named as the new managing director of the company, the second largest maker of polyethylene in India and co-promoted by the state government and TheChatterjee Group (TCG).
HPL, also the largest petrochemical firm in eastern India, Tuesday saw a fiercely-fought boardroom and court battle as ownership issue of the company is yet to be resolved.
While the Calcutta High Court asked the board of the company to maintain the status quo on any proposal for transfer of shares till Wednesday, Bhattacharyya resigned during the board meeting.
Bhattacharyya, the former Coal India chairman, had joined the company 13 months back.
Winstar India Investment, an investor in HPL, had filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court against the beleaguered petrochemical firm for enforcement of its rights.
"Since the company is going through a turnaround time, we cannot work with a managing director, so we came up with an immediate replacement. Our focus is on financial revival," said Industry Minister and company chairman Partha Chatterjee.
HPL has an accumulated loss of more than Rs.10 billion against a peak net worth of Rs.28.44 billion, while the total debt is around Rs.37 billion.
