Tata’s warning

When Ratan Tata unveiled his dream project, the Nano, which would make the car affordable to middle-class Indian families, it caught the imagination of not only Indians but also made headlines all over the world. A car for Rs1 lakh? It was an unheard-of concept, and unbelievable too. But Tata made a promise to the world that he would deliver at that price only, no matter how high costs went up.

That vision is in danger now. Ratan Tata has threatened that he will pull out his car factory from West Bengal if opposition to the project continues to persist. His main concern is the protest by the National Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee who is now set to storm the Tata automobile plant at Singur. Banerjee has always been against the project, mainly on account of the land being given to it, but now she has upped the ante with a march to the factory on Sunday.

This is an embarrassing situation for the Left Front government in West Bengal and particularly for the chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The pro-reform Bhattacharjee had personally wooed Tata — and also other industrialists — to invest in the state and promised them all kinds of facilities. He did keep his commitment, but political opposition from the Trinamul as well as from within the CPM itself has continuously hobbled his efforts.

Tata’s frustrated warning leaves the government in a bind. If he leaves, he will lose a lot of money and more importantly, the two-year lead in the small car market, but the state would pay too — no investment would come to it for years after this. Tata chose West Bengal despite knowing its poor industrial relations record — clearly, he was convinced by Bhattacharjee’s enthusiasm. 

It is a shame that things have come to this pass. This was to be a golden opportunity for the state to break its economic growth stasis and join the ranks of other dynamic states that have moved forward. The Nano has achieved iconic status even without a single car being on the roads — more investment would have definitely followed.

It is not only the CPI-M that should be blamed for this situation, though its contradictory attitude to investment is difficult to understand. In Kerala, for instance, the party and the government are even prepared to create SEZs. The Trinamul Congress too deserves criticism for its continuous objection to the Nano project which has brought jobs to the area. This impasse needs to be sorted out once and for all so that opposition to this project (or any other one for that matter) does not keep rearing its head time and again.
It will be a shame if Ratan Tata finally had to take this drastic step.