Five years after a violent agitation spearheaded by the Trinamool Congress led to the withdrawal of the Tata’s iconic small car project from West Bengal, the Merchants Chamber of Commerce has urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to roll out a red carpet to Bajaj Auto to set up a factory for manufacturing quadricycles in the State.
RE-60 Quadricycles (or simply the Q) is being seen as the next generation auto, which will replace three-wheelers in India in course of time.
In a letter to Ms. Banerjee, the city-based Chamber suggested that the Chief Minister send an urgent proposal to the managing director of Bajaj Auto. “The factory may come up on a PPP [public-private partnership] model or as a private entity and necessary land, infrastructure and other facilities may be offered for fast track implementation of this vital project,” the letter said.
The letter mentioned that quadricycles had received the green signal from the Union Ministry of Roads and Highways, to ply as commercial vehicles. They are claimed to be safer than an autorickshaw with improved fuel efficiency and lesser emission.
The chamber felt that an invitation from the government along with an assurance of quick statutory clearances would certainly elicit a positive response from Bajaj Auto.
The letter was sent on May 23, five days after the government sought responses from the chambers of commerce and industry to its draft industrial policy, aimed at boosting the confidence of investors, which was badly shaken after the Tatas’ experience.
