‘Welcome’: SMS that drove Nano from Bengal to Gujarat
Welcome. The one word SMS from then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to Ratan Tata led to the Tata Nano project being shifted from West Bengal to Gujarat in 2008, ending one chapter and beginning another in the history of what was billed to be the world's cheapest car.
Led by Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, fierce protests had broken out in West Bengal against the acquisition of land by the then ruling Left Front government led by CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in 2006 for the Tata Group to set up Nano car production unit in Singur. Modi had sent the SMS to Tata when the industrialist was addressing a press conference in Kolkata announcing the exit of Nano project from West Bengal.
“When Ratan Tata said in a press conference in Kolkata that they are leaving West Bengal, I sent him a short SMS saying ‘welcome’. And now you can see what a Re 1 (worth) SMS can do,” Modi had said inaugurating the Tata Nano plant at Sanand in 2010 built at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore. At the rollout of the first Nano car from the plant in Sanand in June 2010, Tata lauded the Gujarat government led by Modi for the help in setting up the facility.
“When we searched for another Nano plant, we wanted to move to peace and harmony. Gujarat stood out against all others in guaranteeing us all that we needed. ‘It was not just Tata’s project, it is our project’, Modi told us. We owe a great lot of gratitude for the support and confidence placed in us,” Tata said. Tata discontinued the production of Nano cars in 2018.
Spoke truth to power: Manmohan
New Delhi: Former PM Manmohan Singh described Ratan Tata as a man who had “the courage of speaking the truth to the men in power”. In a letter to Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, Manmohan Singh expressed deep sadness over the passing of Ratan Tata, calling him a “stalwart of Indian industry”. “He was much more than a business icon; his vision and humanity were demonstrated in the work of charities he founded and nurtured,” he wrote. The ex-PM, who had also served as Finance Minister and RBI Governor, had worked closely with Ratan Tata on several occasions. — TNS
