R P Group plans to shift plant

Kolkata, Jun 5 (UNI) At a time when IT companies are flocking to West Bengal, Kolkata based R P Group, manufacturing ''Chirag'' brand of computers, is planning to shift its plant from Ghushuri (West Bengal) to Barapani (Meghalaya) because of increase in costs owing to an excise levy of 12 per cent.

It was difficult to sustain the excise levy that is increasing the cost of each computer by Rs 1200, R P group of companies chairman Kaustav Roy said. R P Group presently employs 385 people in its plant at Ghushuri in Howrah.

The company had decided to seek state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's intervention in the matter. '' We will request the chief minister's help for enabling us get special economic zone status like the one granted to Wipro so that excise levy can be waived, '' Mr Roy said.

Meanwhile, the group was in advance stage of negotiation with the Meghalaya government and the North Eastern Hill Council for a joint venture plant at Barapani.

'' We have plans to invest around Rs 70 crore for expansion in the current fiscal. If we get the SEZ status, we will expand our plant at Ghusuri and set up the Barapani plant for catering to the Northeast. Otherwise we will shift our entire plant to Barapani and the state government has already agreed to provide us the necessary infrastructure like land and staff quarters for shifting the entire staff in Kolkata, '' he said.

Mr Roy said the company has plans to launch its laptops by July end and entered into an tie-up with Intel. '' Our laptops will be priced between Rs 24,500 to Rs 40,000, '' he said.

The company, which inctroduced its Bengali PC recently, was aiming at Rs 350 crore business this year from Rs 100 crore last year. '' We are opening up offices in all the eastern and north eastern states and this will propel our business, '' he said.

The R P group is also foraying into manufacturing of mild and alloy steel by setting up a plant at 150 bighas of land it has acquired in Jamuria in between Asansol and Durgapur. Group company R P Vyaapar would take care of the group's interests in steel and the total investment in the project is to the tune of Rs 35 crore, he said.

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