Britannia Industries set to shut its 150-worker biscuit unit in Kolkata's Taratala

KOLKATA: Britannia Industries is set to shut down its factory in Taratala - the second oldest of the biscuit giant's factories in India, following the one in Mumbai. It was established in 1947. The company has notified stock exchanges that all workers at the Taratala factory were offered and accepted VRS packages.
"The closure of this 150-worker unit is not expected to significantly impact the company or the state's revenue," a source close to the company stated.
This follows the shutdown of Britannia's older factories in Mumbai and Chennai. The Taratala unit is situated on 11 acres of leasehold land belonging to Kolkata port. Acc-ording to port sources, the lease agreement was renewed in 2018 for a period of 30 years - till 2048.
Sources suggest that the factory's output was no longer economically viable due to its age.
Britannia is focusing on closing down older, less efficient factories near city centres and establishing state-of-the-art facilities with higher production volumes. However, the future use of the Taratala land remains uncertain, as the company still holds 24 years of lease on the property, said a port trust source.
The Taratala factory has been a hub for manufacturing, planning, logistics, and sales operations in the eastern region. In 2018, Britannia chairman Nusli Wadia announced at the company's AGM in Kolkata that the company was planning to invest Rs 300-350 crore in a new facility in Bengal. This investment would mark the company's first major investment in the state in a long time.
Besides Taratala, Britannia operates a contract manufacturing unit near Dankuni.
Britannia Industries is one of India's leading food companies, and Bengal represents its third-largest market, generating over Rs 900 crore in revenue.