If West Bengal chief minister Budhadeb Bhattacharjee had outsmarted the then chief minister of Punjab by wooing Ratan Tata for setting up the Nano car project in West Bengal, the present Punjab government is seeing an opportunity in agitating against the project in that state.
Punjab ?s industries minister, Manoranjan Kalia told FE on Friday,? the Punjab government would only be willing to offer the required land to the Tatas for setting up the car manufacturing facility. We would facilitate the Tatas and hope that Punjab would be their first choice?. ?We would meet the chairman of Tata Motors, Ratan Tata, and other officials to urge them to come to Punjab to set up the project to manufacture the ?people?s car? priced at Rs1 lakh?, the industries minister added.
Sources in the industry department said that the state government could offer 1,000 acres at places like Ropar, Nabha and Kapurthala for setting up these projects. All these locations are nor far from Chandigarh . The Punjab government, desperate to bring various manufacturing units to the state in order to enhance employment, is also prepared to offer special concessions.
Industry department sources said that Tata shares good relations with the Punjab government, since the Punjab government has already announced a joint venture with Tata Motors to set up an automotive and driving skills institute in the district of Mukatsar. Called State Institute of Automotive and Driving Skills (SIADS) will be set up in Mahuana village, at a cost of Rs 13 crore.