Tata shuts Nano plant, one verge of leaving West Bengal

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With the dead lock between agitating Trinalmool Congress led by Mamta Banerjeee and the govt of West Bengal, Tata Motors is considering pullout from Singur. The company, in a press release issued on Tuesday, says it is exploring alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities. The press release says, “Tata Motors Ltd. has been constrained to suspend the work at the Nano Plant in Singur in view of continued agitation.

This decision was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour. The company is evaluating options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities. A detailed plan to relocate the plant to an alternate site is under preparation. To minimize impact on trained employees from West Bengal, the company is exploring possibility of absorbing them at other locations.”

Confirming the news, a spokesperson from Tata Motors also said the situation around the Nano plant “continues to be hostile and intimidating. There is no way this plant could operate efficiently unless the environment became congenial and supportive of the project.”

Work at the Tata Motors Nano factory at Singur in West Bengal's Hoogly district remained suspended for the fourth consecutive working day on Tuesday. According to The Telegraph newspaper report in Kolkata, Tata Motors and its vendors are losing about Rs 1 crore every day on account of work suspension. There was no work at the factory on Friday, Saturday and Monday due to an indefinite agitation at the plant site by the Trinamool Congress, which is demanding the return of 400 acres taken for the project from farmers who did not want their land to be acquired. The plant was closed on Sunday, it being a weekly holiday.

Meanwhile in another development, the National Highway-2 (NH2), which was partially opened on Monday night was again closed on Tuesday morning. "We have been able to allow 55 trucks to ply towards Kolkata and some others to Bardhaman district till 11 a.m. Tuesday," said an official of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). He, however, refused to comment on why the highway was closed Tuesday. "Senior NHAI officials will have a meeting with the Hoogly district administration on this issue soon," he said. Tata Motors is slated to roll out the world's cheapest car from its factory in Singur, 40 kilometre from Kolkata, in October.

Mamata’s reaction

Stating that her party wanted “normal work” to resume, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday night it could not do anything if workers of Tata Motors at Singur did not turn up for work. ''We have not stopped work at the Tata project. We have not obstructed anyone. We cannot do anything if workers do not turn up for work,'' Banerjee told reporters here in her reaction to Tata Motors' decision to suspend work at its plant here.

Earlier, speaking from the dharna site, she said that she wanted dialogue to resolve the impasse and hoped that the doors would remain open as Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi had taken the initiative. ''We want that work should take place at the Tata plant, at the same time, talks can also go on. We have sent Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee three times to the government today,'' she said. She said that some were claiming the indefinite dharna had been undertaken after the party took money. ''I challenge them to prove it. If they fail to prove it they have to apologize publicly.''

Govt.’s Reaction

Meanwhile, West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen described the decision by the Tata Motors Company to suspend work at the Singur Nano plant as "an unfortunate day for West Bengal." "It is a very unfortunate day. It is a very bad day for West Bengal," Sen told a private Bengali TV channel. He said, "The Tatas have communicated their decision to me after a meeting which took place today to review the ground situation at Singur."

Tata Motors, in a statement, said, "In view of the current situation, the company is evaluating alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities." The West Bengal industry minister said, "Since the project has been suspended and not scrapped, we can still pursue with the Tatas to reconsider their decision and sit with the state government for an amicable solution."

Denying any connection between her party’s highway blockade and the shut down of work at the Tata plant, she said, “It’s completely their internal and technical matter we don’t have any comment to make.”