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West Bengal Industries and Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Thursday said Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, was not being properly briefed by the management of his companies. This came in response to Tata’s remark that he did not see “much sign” of industrial development in the state.
“This is lack of judgement (motibhrom) on the part of Ratan Tata. His own companies are adding 20,000 jobs in Bengal, I’m surprised his own companies don't brief him,” Mitra said. Tata Metaliks had last week applied for expansion, he added.
Mitra went on to advise Tata to concentrate on his hobbies like flying planes. “Doesn't he know Anil Ambani is investing here? If I give you a list, it will take all day. Perhaps, he should concentrate on his other hobbies like flying planes,” Mitra said.
Mitra’s comments prompted Ratan Tata to respond. He tweeted: “My comments yesterday referred to my drive from the airport to the Maurya (ITC Sonar) via Rajarhat. I saw lots of residential and commercial development but not much industrial development. I made no comment about the industrial development in the state. Mr Amit Mitra’s comments are therefore surprising.”
“Mr Mitra might believe I have ‘lost my mind’. I would be delighted if he could show me what industrial development projects I missed while driving through Rajarhat. If he cannot, I would have to conclude that he has a very fertile imagination.”
A more scathing attack came from Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim, who said, “Tata had lost his mind...his chairmanship has also gone now. Why does he not fight us in the political field?”
On Wednesday, at a function organised by the Ladies Study Group of Indian Chamber of Commerce, Tata had said, “It has been about two years since I came to Kolkata... While driving from Rajarhat, I saw it is an unbelievable change in terms of new buildings. But it still looks like a countryside… under development; I do not see much signs of industrial development.”
At the event, Tata also said that the relocation process effectively killed the excitement that had built up around the Nano since its announcement.
Tata took a tough call to shift the Nano plant from Singur in West Bengal to Sanand in Gujarat in October 2008 after Mamata Banerjee, then in the Opposition, led an agitation against the project. The Nano project in West Bengal was announced in May 2006, immediately after Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was sworn in as the state’s chief minister for the second time.
Soon, unwilling landowners launched an agitation against the project. Their cause was supported by Banerjee. Eventually, it led to the relocation of the project in October 2008, when the plant was almost 80 per cent complete. The Singur agitation led to the debacle of the Left Front in the Assembly elections of 2011.
