Kolkata, Mar 31 (PTI) City-based agro company Halder Venture Limited (HVL) has acquired a closed edible oil refinery unit of KS Oil Ltd in Haldia for Rs 58 crore, officials said.
KS Oil had been under liquidation due to debt issues.
HVL officials said the company has taken physical possession of the asset on March 28 following approval from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and plans to resume operations within three months.
“The acquisition cost is Rs 58 crore, and we aim to operationalise the plant within three months, though full-scale revival of the unit will take a year,” said Keshab Kumar Halder, managing director of Halder Venture.
Another similar amount may be pumped in phases to ramp up and modernise the edible oil unit, officials indicated.
The unit may support employment of 500 people.
The acquisition gives the rice producer control of an edible oil refining facility at Haldia Port, with a capacity of 500 tonnes per day (TPD) for physical and chemical refining—a five-fold increase over its existing plant in Birbhum district.
An HVL official said this strategic expansion is expected to boost annual revenue by over Rs 1,500 crore.
The port-based facility is set to spearhead HVL’s expansion in the edible oil business, shifting its focus from bulk sales to a branded portfolio.
However, the company did not disclose whether it has acquired any of KS Oil’s brands, which once held a significant share of the branded edible oil market.
HVL, listed solely on the BSE, anticipates a turnover of around Rs 900 crore in FY25.
Its existing refinery at Siuri in Birbhum is smaller and faces logistical challenges due to its distance from the port.
In contrast, major edible oil brands like Emami and Adani Wilmar operate refineries in Haldia to manage imported cargo and distribution in eastern India.
Besides the refinery, HVL’s Haldia unit includes a 33,000-tonne storage tank facility and a packaging unit, connected by a pipeline to the edible oil jetty at the port.
The Madhya Pradesh-based KS Oil, which went into court-monitored liquidation, had itself purchased the Haldia refinery from Ambo Agro in 2008 for over Rs 125 crore. PTI BSM RG
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