Flashpoint at Singur

Tata reiterates threat to withdraw, Left stages massive support rally.

West Bengal’s showcase industrial project to produce Tata Motors’ Rs 1 lakh small car Nano, is poised precariously with a “concerned” Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata threatening to pull out from the state following the disruptions from Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress over land acquisition for the project at Singur.

The Trinamool Congress has threatened a siege of the plant starting August 24.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of the Tata Tea annual general meeting, Tata said, "What has concerned us is the violence; the destruction has led us to be concerned about the safety of our employees, our equipment and investments and, in fact, the viability of the process as such.”

Tata’s statement came as tension has ratcheted up and stray incidents of violence increased over the past few months after the Trinamool Congress won local Panchayat elections that saw a resurgence of local protests over the 400 acres out of the 997-acre project for which farmers had refused compensation from the state last year.

Meanwhile, stung by the gathering strength of the Trinamul Congress, the first significant opposition to its 31-year rule in West Bengal, the Left Front staged a massive rally around the factory site in Singur, an hour’s drive from Kolkata, today.

Despite the disruptions, Tata said the company was in a position to roll out the Nano in October or closer to October but much would depend on the situation from August 24.

“We do not want to come to an area where we perceive that we are unwanted,” Tata said, adding, “We have not come here to exploit any segment, we are deeply concerned about the people of West Bengal. If, in fact, anybody has a history of serving the people around the plants, I think we have displayed the kind of sensitivity.”

"The people of West Bengal and Kolkata would have to decide whether Tata Motors was going to be an unwanted resident or a good corporate citizen of West Bengal. If it is the latter we would be very very happy to be part of this development. If , on the other hand, there is a view that for various political reasons, we should not be here or what we are trying to do should be altered, which cannot be… then we would necessarily face an issue, very reluctantly, of where we need to move,” he added. 

In a late development, the West Bengal government was looking at a proposal to gift 5 cottahs (1 cottah is 720 sq feet) to each of the 2,200-odd farmers who have not accepted compensation after their land was taken over as part of the 997-acre plot which houses the Tata Singur car plant, said a source close to the state government. However, this could not be confirmed from any minister or official of the state government.