Public sector oil major Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is exploring plans to expand its operations in Haldia, West Bengal, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari assuring the company of facilitating land for the proposed investment. The oil company is likely to set up a chemical downstream plant.
Adhikari said during a media interaction that the Haldia Development Authority (HDA) has given 85 acres, while the requirement is 175 acres.
The Haldia Dock Complex, he said, has the required land, adding that he had taken up the matter with IOC and the port authorities to ensure that the oil major gets priority in its allocation. “If this happens, then they will send the project to the board. And the board will consider.” IOC has a refinery at Haldia.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a media interaction to announce Kolkata as the host city for India Energy Week 2027. IEW 2027, held under the patronage of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, will take place from January 28-31, 2027.
At the curtain-raiser event, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that with the new government, things were moving fast in West Bengal.
He added that earlier the worry was that in the overall development, West Bengal would be left out. “Now, it is integral to the development.”
Puri said that public sector oil and gas companies have about ₹17,600 crore worth of projects underway in the state, with a further ₹1,500 crore in the planning stage. Nearly two-thirds of this is going into city gas distribution.
Puri said IEW has become globally acknowledged in terms of scale and size. “But it is more than an oil and gas platform, it is an energy platform. So towards the end of January when the IEW meets in the state, it also, in a way, signals the revival, the renaissance of Bengal.”
West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta pointed out that for a long time, Kolkata was bypassed and somehow left out of the calculation. “Now, I’m so glad to find that it’s back with a vengeance.”
West Bengal Industry Minister Tapas Roy said hosting IEW 2027 in Kolkata highlights the growing importance of eastern and northeastern India in India’s energy landscape.
