Calcutta, Jan. 20: New Dunlop owner Pawan Ruia is expected to ink a wage pact with workers next week, paving the way for the closed Sahagunj unit to reopen.

“The crucial issue is compensation for the workers,” state industries minister Nirupam Sen said. “Once that’s agreed, the job is done.”

He indicated a large number of workers will have to be laid off. Ruia has said he wouldn’t need more than 1,000 workers, which means about 1,700 must take early retirement.

Ruia doesn’t expect to have to pay more than Rs 40 crore in wage compensation but the unions believe the amount should be higher.

Dunlop proposes to pay about Rs 75,000 to each of the 1,700 workers to be laid off and has also agreed to pay wage arrears of Rs 25,000 for the Sahagunj facility. Dunlop has another unit at Ambattur, Tamil Nadu.

Ruia was confident about reaching a wage agreement soon. “Once this is done, we can put a date on commencement of production,” he said.