Why Ratan Tata likes West Bengal

Singur was a "great disappointment" but the Tata Group might still go to West Bengal, hints outgoing chairman of the group Ratan Tata.

"It need not be Tata Motors. We have until the court decides this, the plant is still there. Whether it is Tata Motors or something else," he said in an interview.

He was asked about his recent statement that some day the Tatas would go back to West Bengal, from where Tata Motors had to shift to Gujarat after a bitter experience in Singur.

...

Tata, who would step down as chairman of Tata Group this month, said he had great affinity with eastern India because it had not partaken of the growth and prosperity of the rest of the country.

"If there is something that I could do to be involved with in eastern India, I would welcome that. You see, I lived in Jamshedpur for six years, very close to Kolkata and I used to be in Kolkata off and on."

...

"Bengali people are very nice people. So, I have an affinity to that part of the country and to see something happen there would be quite a thrill for me," he said.

Building a cancer hospital in Kolkata in itself, Tata said, had been a thrill for him because lives could be saved in that part of the country. "It is something that I feel very proud of that I have been able to do," he said.

...

Speaking about Singur, where Tata Motors set up a factory to manufacture the world's cheapest car but had to quit in the wake of protests over land acquisition a few years ago, Tata said, "It was a great disappointment because we went to West Bengal in a leap of faith, thinking that part of the country was being ignored industrially."

"I had a great regard for Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (the then chief minister). I thought he was really trying to industrialise West Bengal and I thought the plant we had could have created eventually 7,000-8,000 jobs," Tata said.