It was due to the economic crisis and focus on maintaining the company's revenue in a viable way.
Britannia, the second oldest biscuit brand in India is on the verge of shutting down its Tartala factory in Kolkata. This occurred after the sudden shutdown of the company’s older factories in Mumbai and Chennai. The economic crisis and focus on maintaining the company’s revenue in a viable way has prompted to take the decision.
According to the TOI report, the Taratala unit was not generating expected revenue for the biscuit company. The company has offered VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) for all the workers.
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The shutdown of Britannia’s Tartala unit will not affect the company or the state’s revenue by any means, the reports said. Meanwhile, the ruling party in West Bengal alleged that the sudden shutdown was due to the company’s internal management issues but BJP accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the closure of its Tartala unit.
BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya darned both the current TMC party and the former Left government for the factory’s plight. According to the reports, West Bengal BJP president and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar knocked the state government stating that “Industry will not come in the presence of a party which always extorts and there is an anti-industry image of the chief minister.”
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh rebutted this saying that the closure is on account of the internal management issues within the biscuit brand. The problems inside a factory cannot be linked with the overall industrial situation of the state is not the right thing to do, he added.
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Currently, Britannia has sent notice to all the affected workers, with a money package offering Rs 22 lakhs for employees with 10 or more years of service and Rs 18 lakhs for those who completed 7 years of working experience in the company. CITU leader Gautam Ray stated that the company didn’t function and hasn’t been working at the Tartala plant for over 20 days 122 permanent employees have accepted VRS and the rest of the 250 contract workers will also get a sum after negotiation.
Britannia company was established in Kolkata in 1892 and is one of the largest food products companies in India. The company focuses on selling bakery, dairy and adjacent snacking categories with an operational span of 80 years in the country.
The Tartala biscuit factory was one of the oldest manufacturing units of Britannia and functioned in the city for about 7 decades.
