By IANS,
Kolkata/New Delhi : West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi began preliminary talks Thursday to end the impasse over the Tata Motors car project in Singur as more farmers came out in support of the project after the automobile major threatened to relocate it.
Company chief Ratan Tata said in New Delhi that all steps were being taken to roll out the little Nano as scheduled, but he refused to say from where.
Governor Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, met representatives of farmers who are protesting the acquisition of some 400 acres of farmland for the project and the state government separately, ahead of the formal talks Friday.
The informal meeting was the result of Mamata Banerjee, the chief of Trinamool Congress, which is spearheading the protests, softening her stand and agreeing to the reconciliatory talks being mediated by the governor.
“I am hopeful about a solution in the talks set for Friday because both the West Bengal chief minister (Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) and Mamata Banerjee are sincere in their efforts to end the stalemate,” Gandhi said, adding Tata group representatives were also invited for talks.
At Singur, 40 km from the state capital Kolkata, Banerjee hoped the governor’s initiatives would bring smiles to every face. “I am hopeful of a solution emerging soon,” she said, as her indefinite sit-in entered the 12th day.
The pro-Nano groups took out a big rally near Singur market, demanding a congenial atmosphere for Tata Motors to resume operations.
“We want the project. We have given land. In a democracy it is the majority which has its way. Ten thousand farmers have given land willingly. Only two thousand raised objections. Then why is so much noise being made against the project?” Said a rallyist.
Earlier in the day, there was not much activity at the makeshift podiums raised by the Trinamool Congress along the Durgapur Expressway, as the farmers anxiously awaited some positive settlement Friday.
Trinamool Congress-backed farmers have been holding protests since Aug 24 at the company’s factory at Singur, wanting 400 acres of land – of the 997.11 acres acquired for the project – to be returned. The 400 acres land is for ancillary industries.
As the protests intensified, the Tata group last week suspended work at the site, which employs some 800 people, including engineers from South Korea and Singapore, saying it will not put its employees at risk. It also threatened to relocate the project to some other state, if the protests continued.
On Wednesday, a farmer who had sold his land willingly to the Tatas for the Nano project committed suicide after the company announced it was suspending work. His three sons were employed in the company as guards and they stood to lose their jobs. The suicide has come as a jolt to the Trinamool Congress-led movement and many have started coming out in open support of the project.
During Thursday’s meeting with the governor, a team of state government representatives including Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, Chief Secretary A.K. Deb and Commerce and Industry principal secretary S. Sen were present.
“We discussed the details about the project with the governor. We told him about the project size and other related details. He took note of the information we gave him. He will discuss it with the opposition,” Sen told reporters later.
In the national capital, where the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers held its annual convention, Ratan Tata was the centre of attraction, with all wanting to know if he will relocate his factory away from West Bengal.
“Obviously, we are a company which wants to launch Nano as planned. We will try to do everything possible to launch Nano as planned,” he said, without divulging from where he would like the world’s cheapest car to roll out.
Several other state governments have invited Tata to set up the plant in their territory and have said they would roll out the red carpet for the project that has grabbed global attention.
“The question needs to be asked not to me but to others,” he shot back, when asked if Tata Motors will be able to meet the October deadline for commercial launch of the car, expected to cost Rs.100,000 ($2,500), excluding taxes.
The annual convention saw all the bigwigs of India’s automobile industry rally behind the small car project of the Tata group, India’s largest industrial house with a
turnover of $62 billion from as many as 96 companies.
Meanwhile, after former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, chess Grand Master Dibyendu Barua spoke out in support of the Tata project. “We need the small car factory in West Bengal. It will generate a lot of employment and help in the state’s development.”
“If the Tatas leave Singur, that will be a bad advertisement for the state,” said Barua, an employee of Tata Steel.