Pawan Ruia at the news conference. (Amit Datta)

Calcutta, Nov. 23: The Bengal government is considering an application from Dunlop for working capital and a Rs 115-crore term loan — two features of a wish list drawn up by the company to resume production at the Sahagunj plant.

The application for the assistance — a virtual bailout plea in the season of such entreaties from industries within and outside India — is lying with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC).

“The application from Dunlop came to us some days back. We are reviewing it,” WBIDC managing director Subrata Gupta told The Telegraph.

The Dunlop management said it needed about Rs 70 crore immediately to restart production in the plant at Hooghly’s Sahagunj.

At a media conference earlier in the day, Dunlop chair- man Pawan Ruia had said he would like the state government to announce relief on sales tax on tyres sold in Bengal and the induction of the com-pany as a “preferred” tyre supplier in the transport department.

“Dunlop enjoys moral support of the Bengal government…. However, Dunlop is yet to receive the much needed incentive/relief/concession from the government,” Ruia said.

He is scheduled to meet labour minister Mrinal Banerjee tomorrow as part of the attempts to end the Sahagunj stalemate. The company had stopped production there and asked its 1,170-odd workers to accept a grant of Rs 2,000 a month till work resumed.

Ruia had earlier said the company would restart work once it arranged for a Rs 100-crore loan.

In case the WBIDC cannot offer the entire amount, the government might take up the company’s case with public sector banks. “The government has assured Dunlop that it will write to the banks where its loan applications are pending,” a source said.

It is not unusual for the state government to help revive an ailing enterprise, even if indirectly. It had taken an active role in revitalising the state’s showcase project, Haldia Petrochemicals, when it was saddled with loans in its early years. Many co-operative ba- nks under the state’s control had then offered loans.

Dunlop’s case is different, though, as the state is a shareholder in the petrochemical giant.

The government’s “request” to grant the loan, however, could go a long way at a time banks and financial institutions are averse to risky lending because of the global credit crisis.

A section of workers has rejected the pay-cut offer. Citu and Intuc had agreed to the proposal but backtracked later. They want the government to endorse the pay-cut pact.

“I am ready to sign (an) agreement anywhere and in front of anybody. I am committed to the earliest revival of Sahagunj,” Ruia said.