The Hindu : Front Page : Tatas pull out of Singur

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 04, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Tatas pull out of Singur

Marcus Dam

We have a time line and have made promises: Ratan Tata

— Photos: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury, Sushanta Patronobish

Moving out: Ratan Tata announces in Kolkata the “regretful decision” to shift the Nano car project out of Singur. In the picture at left, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee arrives for a 90-minute meeting with the Tata Group Chairman. In his press conference, Mr. Tata praised the investor-friendly policies of the Left Front government, but cited the Opposition agitation as the reason for pulling out.

KOLKATA: Tata Motors announced its decision here on Friday to pull out from Singur in West Bengal in the interests of the Nano small car project’s success and viability and in the light of the Opposition’s continued and heightened agitation there. Work at the project site had begun in January 2007.

“We have taken the very regretful decision to move the Nano project out of West Bengal; we were left with no option … we took it with a great deal of sadness … with a lot of pain,” Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, said after a 90-minute meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

The decision had to be taken despite the “investor friendly policies of the government.” “I still have a great deal of respect for the leadership of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee,” Mr. Tata told journalists. “We do not believe we have in any way lost our enthusiasm for investment in the State.”

Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said the decision “is very unfortunate for West Bengal . We will have to continue on the path of industrialisation.”

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who has been spearheading the agitation at Singur, described the decision “a joint game plan of the Tatas and the CPI(M).” She described the announcement of the pullout as a “political” one and said the agreement between the company and the government to set up the project was not being brought out in the open “for it had political intent.”

The decision was taken “because we don’t see any change in the horizon,” he said. “We have a time line to reach and have made promises to the public. We cannot let something lie in limbo.”

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page