Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee with industry minister Nirupam Sen (extreme right), WBIDC managing director M.V. Rao (second from right) and CALS Refineries CEO Manabendra Guha Roy in Calcutta on Wednesday. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Calcutta, March 19: BP, formerly British Petroleum, one of the world’s largest energy company, may enter Bengal.

The London-headquartered company, with a $266-billion turnover, is likely to participate in a refinery coming up in Haldia.

If it materialises, BP will partner Gurgaon-based CALS Refineries Ltd, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bengal government today for the 5-million-tonne refinery, involving an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.

“Talks are at an advanced stage with BP. They are likely to be the strategic partner in the project,” Manabendra Guha Roy, CEO of CALS, said.

The project will be commissioned in quick time, by the first quarter of 2010, as CALS will import a working refinery located at Ingolstadt, Germany, and reinstall it at Haldia.

The Telegraph had first reported about the CALS project which would come up in over 400 acres.

When contacted, a BP spokesperson confirmed talks but said equity participation was not on the agenda.

“BP’s oil and products trading division is potentially interested in crude oil supply and oil product offtake deals in India and CALS is one of the projects we are interested in. This will not be an equity investment, but purely a supply and offtake trading agreement,” the spokesperson said.

The Indian company, promoted by SpiceJet airline co-owner Sanjay Malhotra, will not stop at 5mt capacity for the refinery. It plans to import another refinery of 5mt capacity and install it by the end of 2010.

When asked why he brought the refinery to Bengal, Malhotra said, “I have done business in many states and countries but not seen a proactive government like this.”

The memorandum of understanding was signed by Roy, WBIDC managing director M. V. Rao and Parwez Ahmed Siddiqui, CEO of the Haldia Development Authority.

Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, industry minister Nirupam Sen and industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen were also present when the agreement was signed at Writers’ Buildings.

Bhattacharjee said the CALS project was important in turning Haldia-Nayachar into a chemical hub.

“We need 15mt capacity for the hub. Indian Oil has 7.5mt. CALS will bring another 10mt by 2010. We are well on our way,” Nirupam Sen said.