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This is an archive article published on March 16, 2007

‘Bengal must decide if it wants small car project’

A day after 14 villagers resisting land acquisition died in police firing at Nandigram, Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant announced it’s time for the people of West Bengal and their government to decide whether they want the Tatas’ Singur project or not.

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A day after 14 villagers resisting land acquisition died in police firing at Nandigram, Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant announced it’s time for the people of West Bengal and their government to decide whether they want the Tatas’ Singur project or not.

“Eastern India was neglected for whatever reason and hollowed out as far as automobile industry is concerned. We came to West Bengal at great risk and great odds. Whatever has happened I don’t want to go into it… The whole thing has undergone a change,” said Kant, exhorting Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s Left Front government to learn from the way Uttarkhand handled the Tata Motors’ project to make the best-selling Ace mini truck.

“I wish the same thing happened in West Bengal. It is now up to the people of Bengal and its government to decide whether they want to stay out and what is it that’s required,” Kant said, even though he expressed confidence in the state government and said Singur was on schedule.

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Protests against the acquisition of 997 acres of farmland had gripped the Singur project ever since it was announced last year. Now Nandigram near Haldia, where the government plans a much bigger acquisition to set up a Special Economic Zone, is on fire.

“In Uttarakhand, there was nothing. Then we quietly set up a plant similar in size to the one in Singur in a record 11 months without any media attention,” Kant told the Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association on Friday.

Like Singur, the Uttarakhand project is spread over 1,000 acres, of which Tata Motors will have 600 acres for their plant.

“An auto-component cluster is being set up over 350 acres and many auto industries are now coming up. It is now a major automobile hub, bigger than West Bengal,” he said.

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Kant failed to hide his frustration over the controversy dogging Singur as he pointed out that the company has taken a big risk to come to the state and stick on. “But we are here and we are committed,” he added.

Last week, Tata Motors and the government signed a 90-yr lease agreement and the land is in possession of the Tatas. Even so, opponents make periodic threats to break down the boundary wall.

Later talking to reporters on the sidelines of the FADA meet, Kant said: “We are working hard and the project is on schedule. It will be completed by the middle of next year.”

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