Karnataka, Andhra chase the Nano

The buzz in Gujarat is that project will roll out on Dusshera at Sanand; protests greet Tatas at AP site

BANGALORE/ HYDERABAD/ AHMEDABAD: While Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are in a tug-of-war to woo the Tata Motors’ Nano car project with each rolling out the red carpet, the buzz in Gujarat was that the project was likely to take off in Sanand on Dusshera, Thursday.

A 10-member Tata team, headed by managing director Ravi Kant, made a whistle-stop trip to Dharwad in Karnataka on Sunday morning to study the feasibility of setting up the Nano plant there and interacted with chief minister BS Yeddyurappa. They followed it up with a whirlwind tour of Hyderabad.

To the embarrassment of the YS Rajasekhara Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh, the villagers of Seetarampuram in Shahbad, one of the sites on offer, staged a protest, blocking access to the proposed site. The protest led to blockade of the Bangalore-Mumbai highway for several hours.

In Karnataka, the government went all out to hardsell Dharwad as the ideal location for the Tatas after the  pullout from Singur in West Bengal in the face of stiff opposition to the Rs1 lakh car project.

Ravi Kant inspected prospective sites in Dharwad on Sunday morning before meeting Yeddyurappa in a hotel.

Tata Motors already has two plants operating in Dharwad — one, manufacturing commercial vehicles and the other building earth-moving vehicles.

Yeddyurappa assured Ravi Kant that their requirements for land, water and power would be met. He also threw in duty concessions and incentives like stamp duty waiver.

The chief minister reportedly pointed to Dharwad’s proximity to the two ports of Karwar and Goa, besides Hubli, which is the twin city of Dharwad, and has an airport. Incidentally, Singur lacked an airport.

Government officials also told the Tata delegation that Dharwad was also close to Pune, the hub of Tata Motors’ operations.

Following the meeting, Yeddyurappa said he was optimistic and hoped Tata Group chairman, Ratan Tata, would meet him to take the talks to a conclusive phase.

According to a Tata Motors spokesperson, Karnataka and Gujarat are front-runners for the Nano plant following the Singur debacle.

This is the fourth round of talks between the Karnataka government and Tata officals.
However, the team’s visit to Hyderabad has also raised the Andhra government’s hopes of getting the first ever automobile unit in the state.

Andhra Pradesh has recently unveiled an ultra mega integrated auto policy which will give a host of incentives like complete exemption from value added tax on capital goods, works contract tax, octroi, and other state levies, besides a capital subsidy.

The team held discussions with a high-level team of officials including state industries minister J Geeta Reddy. “We have come here to see what they [the state] have to offer us,” Ravi Kant told reporters after the meeting. He refused to make any further comment.

Though chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy did not attend the meeting, he met the Tata team and assured them of “all that is required”.

“We have offered them land near Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Hindupur,” said Geeta Reddy.

Hindupur is closer to Bangalore and several industries in Bangalore have been looking at it for further expansion.

Though Visakhapatnam was the most likely site ever since Reddy shot a letter to the Tatas, inviting them to the state, the location near Hyderabad was a last minute decision.

The government has located about 1,140 acres and 1,800 acres in two pockets of Shahbad, about 30 km from the international airport. The two pockets are in Seetarampuram and Alur villages. While the land in Seetarampuram belongs to the government, the Alur land is Wakf property.

“We wanted the Tata team to see all the locations. But due to paucity of time, they could see only the land in Shahbad,” industries minister Geeta Reddy said. However, the protest by villagers came as a dampener.

The state government had also offered land at Naidupet in Nellore and at the upcoming port complex - Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Port Infrastructure Corridor (VANPIC). “We feel VANPIC would be the best place due to access to the port,” a government official said.