Tatas prepare to pull out of Singur...

'The opposition has gone too far,’ says Nirupam Sen.

After threatening to do so for weeks, Tata Motors today officially announced that it was suspending construction and commissioning at the Nano plant in Singur in view of the confrontation and agitation at the site by the Trinamool Congress, beginning August 24, adding that it was working on a detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site.

A press release issued by the company late this evening said in view of the current situation, the company was evaluating alternate options to manufacture the Nano at other company facilities and a detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site was under preparation.

To minimise the impact this would have on the recently recruited and trained people from West Bengal, Tata Motors said it was exploring the possibility of absorbing them at its other plant locations.

The company has plants in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, and in Pune, Maharashtra, either of which could be pressed into service to produce the Nano, long publicised as the world’s cheapest car, to meet its October launch deadline, which remains unchanged.

The decision, which has attracted widespread sympathy from industry, came a day after Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee said Tata Motors was free to resume work at the site, and the Left Front offered a special rehabilitation package for displaced farmers who had not accepted compensation, indicating a speedy end to the protest movement.

In a telecast statement, West Bengal Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said the opposition parties appeared to have gone too far because Ratan Tata had warned that the project would be moved out of the state “if its people were not safe”.

“I will try my best to meet Tata Motors and persuade them to stay within the limitations imposed by the opposition or perhaps with their cooperation,” said Sen.

Sen added that Trinamool Congress had promised a “satyagraha” and non-violent protest but it had degenerated into intimidation, which peaked when activists led by Anuradha Talwar detained Tata employees from leaving the factory till nearly midnight after they had finished their work at 5 pm.

The company came to the decision after work was stalled for five consecutive days. The project’s auto ancillary partners, who had started work at their respective plants in Singur, were also constrained to suspend work. However, the decision appears to be sudden since the ancillary units were planning to resume work tomorrow.

Around 60 key auto ancillary suppliers to the Nano had taken possession of the land in the integrated complex and invested around Rs 500 crore. Ratan Tata had said in Kolkata earlier that Tata Motors had already invested Rs 1,500 crore in the project.

Tata Motors claimed that there was a significant decline in the attendance of its staff and contractual labourers since August 24.

“Some of the international consultants working on the plant have returned home and the construction work in the plant has been stalled since August 28, 2008,” the release said.

As part of its commitment to enhance the employability of its people, Tata Motors has trained over 762 industrial training institutes and other apprentices from the region and the state at its facilities in Jamshedpur and Pune.

This was the second project Tata Sons had abandoned in the eastern part of the sub-continent. It had received possession of thousands of acres in Gopalpur in Orissa but abandoned a steel plant there.

Source: Business Standard