A new Haldia petrochemical plant with a reported investment of nearly Rs 6,000 crore was inaugurated in West Bengal on Wednesday, according to a report by Anandabazar. The facility, described in the report as the country’s largest phenol and acetone production unit, is expected to produce 3.45 lakh tonnes of phenol and 2.15 lakh tonnes of acetone annually.
The plant has been developed at Haldia Petrochemicals with investment from its associate company, Adipar. The report said the project is expected to generate 1,400 direct and indirect jobs. It also said the plant would end India’s dependence on imports of phenol and acetone, though that claim requires confirmation from company or government records.
The project was initiated in 2014. Anandabazar reported that the Haldia industrial area had not seen an investment of this scale for almost two decades. The facility therefore represents more than a new manufacturing unit: it is part of the region’s continuing effort to retain petrochemical production, industrial employment and downstream manufacturing capacity.
The reported production volumes are significant because phenol and acetone are industrial inputs used across multiple manufacturing applications. However, the supplied report does not provide details of the plant’s total capacity utilisation, expected domestic demand, supply contracts, feedstock arrangements or the share of national consumption it is intended to meet. Those details would be necessary to assess the project’s effect on imports and downstream industries.
The report attributed the investment and production figures to government sources and said the project was inaugurated in the presence of Haldia Petrochemicals chairman Purnendu Chatterjee and managing director Navneet Narayan. It also reported that Chatterjee spoke about the company’s progress despite operational challenges.
Several additional industrial and public-infrastructure announcements were made at the event, according to Anandabazar. These included the possibility of a further Rs 10,000 crore in investment, a proposed data centre, a soft-drinks manufacturing unit on 98 acres and a medical-equipment factory on 50 acres. The report did not provide the names of the companies, project schedules, approvals, financing arrangements or construction timelines for these proposals.
The state also announced a 50-bed trauma-care and burns unit for workers in the Haldia industrial area. The facility is expected to cost Rs 28 crore and be completed by June 2027. The report did not specify the implementing agency, procurement status, site or operational funding model.
Local skills and industrial employment were another focus of the event. Anandabazar reported that the state would ask its higher-education minister to inspect local Industrial Training Institutes and identify infrastructure upgrades needed to prepare skilled workers for industry. The report also said the state would welcome workers from across India while placing particular emphasis on recruiting suitably skilled local residents.
The supplied account contains a material inconsistency concerning the political office held by Suvendu Adhikari and the identities and roles of officials present at the event. The inauguration, plant capacity, investment, employment projections and related projects should therefore be checked against an official Haldia Petrochemicals statement, a government release or project documentation before publication as confirmed news. The next verifiable milestones are the plant’s operating performance, the status of the proposed industrial projects and progress on the trauma-care and burns unit due by June 2027.
