Britannia set to shut historic biscuit unit in Kolkata's Taratala, all permanent workers accept VRS

According to reports, Britannia's Taratala unit, which was established in 1947, is the second oldest of the company's production facilities in India, after the one in Mumbai.

Earlier on June 20, Britannia Industries informed the stock exchanges that all workers of the company's Taratala unit had accepted the VRS.

"A Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) offered by the company to the workers at its factory situated at Taratala, Kolkata, West Bengal has been accepted by all the permanent workers of the aforementioned factory of the company," a statement from Britannia Industries read.

"There is no material impact on the business operations of the company," it added.

However, Britannia has not officially disclosed so far the reason behind offering VRS to its permanent workers at its Taratala unit.

As per sources, Britannia is focusing on closing down its older and less efficient factories near city centres and setting up modern facilities with higher production capacities.

The closure follows the shutdown of the company's older facilities in Mumbai and Chennai as the 77-year-old Taratala factory's operations and production capabilities were no longer economically viable due to its age.

Britannia's Taratala unit, which has been a key hub for the company's manufacturing, planning and logistics, and sales operations in the eastern region, is located on 11-acre of leasehold land belonging to Kolkata Port.

In 2018, the lease was reportedly renewed for a period of 30 years, unit 2048, and the company still has 24 years left on the lease.

Besides Taratala unit, Britannia operates a contract production unit near Dankuni in Hooghly district of West Bengal.

According to company officials, West Bengal is the third-largest market for Britannia with over 900 crore in revenue generated from the state.