First time after Singur,a TMC minister visits Tata Group unit

Tata Hitachi MD Ranaveer Sinha and Consul General of Japan Mitsuo Kawaguchi were present on the occasion.

Sinha had a complaint against the industry minister,who,the former said,never came to visit the plant despite several invitations over the past two and half years since the Trinamool-led government took over.

“You had come to Kharagpur earlier in a neighbouring plant but unfortunately could not find time to visit this one. So,it is a very memorable day for us. We are happy you are finally here,” he said.

However,when asked about the first visit of any minister from the TMC government to a Tata plant,the minister,talking to The Indian Express,said there was no animosity between the Tatas and the TMC government.

“I have been to other Tata programmes earlier and would like to extend invitation to all the industrial units who might want to invest in West Bengal,” he said.

When pointed out that the skeleton of the Tata Motors factory still stands by the highway in Singur reminding about the dark phase of the TMC agitation,the minister said: “I still believe that the selection of car factory site at Singur,with its rich agricultural potential,was a wrong decision of the Left Front government. The Tatas were forced to accept the land. They they were in favour of the Kharagpur site.”

Stating that “I know the Tata’s mind,” Chatterjee said,“Singur (controversy) was the fallout of power play between two former CPM MPs —- Anil Basu and Rupchand Paul. They put pressure on (then chief minister) Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and he,like blind Dhritarastra,accepted their words.”

In a softening of stance towards Tatas,Chatterjee said it was quite legitimate for the company to demand compensation for the investments it made at Singur and the Trinamool Congress government was also not opposed to the idea. “But the issue is now in court and we can only wait for the judgment,” he said,adding that the government was worried about the farmers who had not taken the compensation for their land acquired for the project and are still suffering.

There has been marked improvement in relations between the Tatas and the Trinamool Congress since Cyrus Mistry took charge of Bombay House last year. Chatterjee had gone ahead and congratulated him on the day and invited him to various industry meets of the state government.

However,in 2012,after the TMC came to power,a scheduled trip of some members of the standing committee of the state Assembly to the Tata Nano plant in Gujarat,was cancelled at the last moment. — With PTI