Trade bodies unite behind Buddha

Even as Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and Krishi Jami Bachao Samiti today made an unsuccessful effort to march to Singur to undo the fencing for the Tata Motors project, chambers of commerce and industry associations in the state joined hands to support the project and a greater cause, industrialisation in West Bengal.

In a statement, industry chambers said the prospect of major investments in the automobile sector could help achieve the goal of rapid industrialisation in a shorter time span.

In particular, the automobile industry the world over has exhibited the ability to create immense scope for ancillarisation and employment. In India, the growth of this sector is targeted to far outstrip that of the national GDP, said the statement.

The chambers and industry associations appealed to every section of society to raise their voice against any process or attempt to destabilise the march towards rejuvenating the state's industrial growth.

"We strongly feel that good sense will prevail to ensure that the pace and direction of industrialisation in West Bengal is not hampered. For West Bengal, the time is now and the future is here to make it happen," said the statement.

Meanwhile, Mamata today threatened to give a call for boycott of Tata products. "I am telling the Tatas don't take things to such a pass that we are forced to call for people's boycott of Tata products," she said.