Tata pulls out of Singur, blames Trinamool stir

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Twenty-eight months after announcing his small-car project at Singur in West Bengal, and having invested around Rs 1,500 crore at the site already, Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata on Friday announced the company’s decision to pull out of the state its plant for the much-awaited Rs 1-lakh Nano.

“We have taken the decision to move the Nano project out of West Bengal. It is an extremely painful decision, but there was no other option. There is also a great feeling that we are doing the right thing,” Tata said, addressing a press conference after an hour-long meeting with state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Tata Motors had to move the project out of West Bengal entirely due to the continued agitation by the opposition Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, with total disregard for the rule of law, Tata said. “You cannot run a plant with police protection. We cannot run a plant with walls broken. We cannot run a project with bombs thrown. We cannot run a plant with people intimidated,” he said.

“Some of you may say that we should have waited for some more time, but we moved out because we have a timeline to reach,” Tata said.

Tata Motors started construction at the Singur plant two years ago, despite an agitation by and open hostility of the opposition. “Land was acquired legally. I believe it was done transparently and compensation paid fairly,” Tata maintained.

The company had suspended work at the site for almost a month before it decided to pull out. “At that time (end August), I had hoped that there would be some reduction in the agitation. But shortly after that, the agitation increased. We do not see any change on the horizon,” Tata said.

When asked about the role of the state government, he said, “The chief minister was very persuasive in his desire for us not to move. We parted as friends and the chief minister would have to trust that we have not lost our enthusiasm to invest in West Bengal. I confirm that this is an investor-friendly state. We faced agitation not from the government, but from the opposition.”