Britannia Isn’t Quitting Kolkata, Its CEO Assures Bengal Govt

Kolkata: Britannia, the Rs 16,546-crore biscuit producer isn’t planning to quit Kolkata, said Amit Mitra, former finance minister of the state and special advisor to Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Mitra said on Tuesday that Britannia MD and CEO Varun Berry assured the West Bengal government that the Nusli Wadia-owned biscuit company had no plans to leave Kolkata.

News started to make rounds Britannia was planning to pull out of Kolkata following the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) offered and accepted by 122 permanent workers at the company’s Taratala factory.

According to The Telegraph, Berry assured Mitra that he and his team of top officials would travel to the city after he returned to India and confer with the state government.

“He (Berry) said that Britannia as a company is fully committed to West Bengal. He said that the company wants to build Britannia’s business from strength to strength in West Bengal,” Mitra said as reported by The Telegraph.

The Telegraph had reported on Monday that all the permanent workers at the company’s Taratala plant have taken VRS after they were offered a severance package in the range of Rs 13-22 lakh. There are around 250 contractual workers at the plant with whom the company has also initiated discussions for a prospective VRS.