On the move

Calcutta, June 27: Britannia Industries Ltd has shifted its sales team from the Taratala factory to Camac Street, triggering speculation that the biscuit major may not run the 45,483-square-metre facility for long.

The Taratala factory, operational since 1947, houses the manufacturing, planning, logistics and sales operations for the eastern region.

The sales team, which had been operating from the office since the 1960s, will now be housed in the sixth floor of 22 Camac Street, Block B.

The Telegraph had earlier reported the company’s plan to shift its sales team on October 23, a day after the company’s vice-president and chief technology officer Rajesh Kumar Lal, along with four other key management personnel, had a meeting with the workers at the Taratala facility.

“This is just a routine activity. The new location is convenient to operate from,” a Britannia spokesperson said, declining to divulge more.

Britannia had shut down its factory in Chennai in 2008. Prior to that, it had closed the Mumbai facility because of labour problems and a rent dispute. After closing the facilities, Britannia has mostly outsourced production.

The company took the decision after receiving an eviction notice from the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT), which owns the land where the factory is situated, on October 15 asking Britannia to vacate the leased Taratala premises within 15 days, or face forceful eviction.

The CPT had asked the company to pay Rs 13 crore towards rent and penalty. Britannia moved Alipore Judges Court challenging the CPT notice. In November, the Alipore court asked the company to make an interim payment of Rs 6.63 crore to the CPT by that month to get a stay order against the proposed eviction.

Following this, Britannia moved Calcutta High Court, which asked it to pay Rs 2.6 crore to the CPT within the first week of December. It had also ordered the company to issue a bank guarantee of Rs 4 crore in favour of the CPT.