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Nano to roll out from Gujarat Ahmedabad, October 7 “This is an extremely momentous and happy day for us because we have been through a rather sad experience from a small section of residents in West Bengal, despite the state government’s efforts,” Tata Group chief Ratan Tata said at a joint press conference with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today. Praising Modi for speedy allocation of around 1,100 acres of centrally located land, Tata said the company had a great deal of urgency in having a new location and was driven by the reputation of the state. “The site in Gujarat, already under the possession of the state government, will help Tata Motors establish a new dedicated mother plant with the shortest possible time lag and least possible increment project cost,” he added. Together with Tata Motors, about 60 vendors would also move to the new location. Asked about the overall deal offered by the Gujarat government, Tata said: “It is as good as or slightly better than the one we had previously (in West Bengal).” Notably, Gujarat was one of the many states in the race for Nano car manufacturing facility. Welcoming the Tatas, Modi said: “Tatas and Gujarat have started a new chapter of partnership, which will give a new direction and dimension to the state.” To begin with, Tata Motors would produce 2.5-3 lakh cars annually and the capacity is expandable by up to five lakh cars per annum, said Tata. — PTI
Limited production from U’khand Dehra Dun, October 7 Talking to mediapersons here, Khanduri said a limited number of cars would be produced from the Tatas’ Pantnagar plant in Udham Singh Nagar district of the state. The Tata group has a 1000-acre plant at Pantnagar to produce Ace brand of trucks. Certain ancillary units of the plant are also reportedly producing parts of the car. According to sources, some heavy plant material was also shifted to Pantnagar truck plant from Singur in West Bengal. However, for the first time Khanduri admitted that Uttarakhand was unable to fulfil the
requirement of land that was required by the Tatas for their Nano plant. “The land sought by them was not available with us. But limited number of Nano cars would be produced from Pantnagar also,” he said. Since the time the Tatas announced their decision to shift from Singur in West Bengal, Khanduri has remained non-committal on the land issue. He repeatedly said his government would look into the demand if the Tatas approach the state government. Last week, Tata officials had called upon the Uttarakhand chief secretary Indu Kumar Pandey to discuss matters related with the Pantnagar plant. Tatas’ demanded 200 acres of more land for housing puposes but was only given 55 acres by the state government. Interestingly, Uttarakhand agriculture minister Trivendra Singh Rawat was also opposing the move to give such a huge tract of land to the Tatas. He had argued that since only 11 per cent of the total land of the state was available for agriculture it could not be given to the industry, as that would endanger the food security of people here. Chief Minister Khanduri further said his government has been pleading with the Union government to extend the period of the industrial package for the state till 2013. The package given by previous Vajpayee government was curtailed till 2010. Cong faces embarrassment as Nano goes to Gujarat New Delhi, October 7 Tata chairman Ratan Tata and Modi signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) today, whereby, the Nano plant will be relocated to Gujarat now. The Congress feels considerable affinity with the house of Tatas. Moreover, most big industrial ventures of Tatas are running from Maharashtra. Therefore, the Congress leaders were hoping that once the Tatas decided to shift out of West Bengal, Maharashtra would be their natural choice. Now a section in the Congress feels that perhaps Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh did not try hard enough to persuade Ratan Tata to shift to his state. Tatas’ decision gives a certain legitimacy and a big boost to the Modi government, which has already proved itself as more industry friendly than other states governments in the country, conceded some Congress leaders privately here today. Congress leaders said, “There is social upheaval in the state, but it has proved to be industry friendly.” On record Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari sufficed to say, “It is a business decision and it is for the industrialist to decide what best suits him.” The embarrassment may be even greater since the Congress is being seen as aiding and abetting tacitly and often times openly the Trinamool Congress in driving out Tatas from West Bengal. Already the CPM is hoping to politically encash on people’s anger and anguish in the wake of Tata plant shifting out of Bengal. The migration of the Tata plant from a Left bastion to the most saffronised state, aided and abetted by Mamata and the Congress, is likely to draw further flak for the Congress.
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