MP rings alarm as auto companies eye Guj

Accusing the Gujarat government of starting a "rat race" by luring industries from other states, a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu today sought Centre's intervention in stalling the reported moves of Ford India and Hyundai to go out of the state for expansion projects."The recent move by automobile majors to shift their expansion projects to Gujarat will dent the image of Tamil Nadu as the automobile capital of the country," said Congress member K S Alagiri in a letter to Anand Sharma, Commerce and Industry Minister.

He said the Centre must persuade the automobile majors not to take their expansion projects outside the state as Tamil Nadu government is addressing the problem of power. Alagiri said the companies are blaming power problems and industrial relations in the state for their moves. "Both these issues are not insurmountable problems," he said. Barring a few stray incidents, the industrial relations in the state have been satisfactory and there have been no strikes in major industries in the state for several years, he added.