Indian cos seek urgent evacuation from Libya

NEW DELHI: Their offices have been ransacked in Tripoli. Their employees are holed up in hotels in Libya, sometimes 10 to a room. Indian companies working in Libya want to evacuate their people from the strife-torn nation but though the government says it is "prepared", New Delhi is yet to dispatch its first flight or ship to get them out.

CEOs and senior executives of more than 10 big Indian construction companies met a high-level committee headed by foreign secretary Nirupama Rao on Wednesday evening to seek urgent evacuation. Several companies including DS Construction, Punj Lloyd, Simplex Construction, Shapoorji-Pallonji, Gannon-Dunkerley, MN Dastur and Unitech are building big projects in Libya.

"The Indian embassy urgently needs people to help coordinate evacuation efforts," one such company representative said at the meeting. They refused to be named because the government has put a gag order on them, specially in talking to the media. Emerging from the meeting, another official said gloomily, "We will wait for a few more days and evacuate our people ourselves."

"We are finalizing contingency plans and seeking permissions from the Libyan government. We should be ready to evacuate in a couple of days," an MEA official said. A ship is already positioned off Egypt, awaiting permission.
The companies said while countries like China and Bulgaria had evacuated their citizens, Indians were still stuck there.