Bengal Waterproof Ltd (BW), which resumed operations on Wednesday after a two-year gap, is confident of being able to regain its position in the rubberised consumer durables market, leveraging its over 80-year old Duckback brand.
The company had been out of production for the last two years. Five months ago the company closed down its unit here due to labour trouble. “We do not think that selling our products would be a problem”, BW director Abhishek Bose told The Hindu from the factory in North 24 Parganas, while admitting that the company had lost ground due to its absence from the market,
The West Bengal government had granted a relief undertaking status to the company which would help it ward off efforts by small creditors to initiate liquidation proceedings to recover their dues. “The company had orders but faced shortage of working capital, after which they approached us,” West Bengal Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction Secretary Subrata Gupta said, adding that the government granted this status after a thorough examination of the company’s history and also after being convinced of the promoter’s intentions about running the company.
Established in 1920, BW has on its rolls around 400 employees now. A decade ago, the company diversified into the soft luggage segment after being a household name in the rainwear and hot-water bag segment. Working capital of around Rs. 17 crore besides letters of credit to the tune of about Rs. 4 crore has now been arranged by the company to kick-start production.
