The Mamata Banerjee government has strongly opposed Andrew Yule’s decision to close down the electrical division located in Calcutta and hand over early retirement to the employees attached to it. Bengal industry minister Partha Chatterjee wrote to Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal expressing the state’s anguish over the decision of the central PSU.

Chatterjee, who had worked in Andrew Yule before joining active politics, requested that the company continue with full fledged operations from the city units.

Reminding Goyal about the nationalisation of Yule in 1974 and the PSU receiving an award from the Centre for a turnaround in 2011, Chatterjee said the closure would hurt its iconic stature and deprive workers of their livelihood. There are about 500 people, direct and contractual, attached to the two units of the electrical division based in Khidderpore.

“It would also send a disheartening signal to all employees and industry leaders involved in the turnaround. I would request you to consider the continuation of the company in its full fledged role and all its operations may be continued as usual from the Calcutta-based units,” Chatterjee wrote on June 23.

Six days later Goyal replied to Chatterjee saying the letter had been “sent to the division concerned for consideration and necessary action as per rules”.

However, the Yule management told the unions on Monday that the company plans to go ahead with closure of the Calcutta as well as Chennai electric divisions. The company is yet to get a nod from the Union ministry of heavy industries. The union suggested that Yule bosses should write to the Bengal government to increase offtake of transformers and other electrical items produced by the division to make the loss making unit viable.

Meanwhile, minister Chatterjee said the Bengal government welcomed any investment from Tata Group in the state. “We are looking for one or two big-ticket investments,” he said.