Biecco Lawrie Co. Limited (BLL) was an Indian

public sector undertaking A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

under the ownership of the

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG) is a ministry of the government of India responsible for the exploration, production, refining, distribution, marketing, import, export, and conservation of petroleum, natural gas, petroleum ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, headquartered in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. It was originally established in 1919 as British India Electric Construction Company Limited.

History

The company was originally established in 1919 in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

as the British India Electric Construction Company (BIECCO). It began as a manufacturer of

tea garden A tea garden is an outdoor space or garden where tea and light refreshments are served, or any garden with which the drinking of tea is associated. Especially in India, it is also a common term for a tea plantation. The tea garden was a part ...

machinery and also produced

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

cases, food containers, and camouflage sets for the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1932, the company started producing affordable fans for the public.

Service

BLL ran four business operations—switchgear manufacturing, electrical repair, projects division, and lubricating oil blending and filling facility. The company had a lubricating oil blending plant with an annual capacity of 12,000 kilolitres. Additionally, the company manufactured switchgears and also untertook small power distribution projects, while also marketing products such as kerosene,

paraffin wax Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and begins to ...

, bitumen, and furnace oil. It also had a separate turnkey project and electrical repair division. As of fiscal 2007, the company incurred aggregated revenue of .

Shut down

The company has over a decade accumulated 153.95 crore loss, with negative net worth of 78.88 crore at the end of the FY 2017-18. On 10 October 2018, the

decided to shut down Biecco Lawrie after approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). Its employees were given Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) / Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). Although the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had made attempts to revive the company by selling, oil companies refused to buy the firm. 67.33 per cent stake of the company is held by Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) and 32.33 per cent is with the government. The remaining 0.44 per cent shares are held by others.

References

Government-owned companies of India Companies based in Kolkata Companies nationalised by the Government of India Indian companies established in 1919 Energy companies established in 1919 Indian companies disestablished in 2018 Energy companies disestablished in 2018 {{india-company-stub