Ravi Kant-led team does a recce of alternative sites for Nano project.
Having withdrawn its Nano car project from Singur, West Bengal, on Friday, Tata Motors intensified its search for alternative locations with a team led by Managing Director Ravi Kant visiting Dharwad in Karnataka on Sunday morning and sites near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, in the afternoon.
In both states, the team met the respective chief ministers and visited possible locations accompanied by senior officials, who took pains to set out the benefits of relocating the mother plant for the world’s cheapest car to their states.
In Dharwad, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, who was in the district on Saturday, stayed overnight to hold discussions with the Tata Motors team this morning.
Yeddyurappa reiterated promises made during an exploratory visit by the Tata Motors team last month to state capital Bangalore to provide land, water and power and other infrastructure to accommodate the car unit.
The chief minister said the land on offer was by the Pune-Bangalore stretch of the National Highway 4 and was well-connected with both the cities.
| THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND (Who’s offering what) |
| Karnataka |
| * Belur on the Pune-Bangalore highway |
| * Gamanagatti between Hubli and Dharwad |
| Andhra Pradesh |
| * Alur and Sitarampur* near Hyderabad |
| * Nellore and Kakinada districts |
| * Farmers reluctant to have project |
He added the atmosphere — both social and political — was peaceful in the region, and it also had a salubrious climate. There are two airports nearby, at Hubli (25 km) and Belgaum (55 km), which would soon be developed to match international standards and the ports are just 200 km away.
Yeddyurappa also impressed on the Tata Motors team that Dharwad had two universities and a large number of schools and colleges.
Ravi Kant told Yeddyurappa he would get back to him in a week and arrange a meeting between the chief minister and Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata.
Ravi Kant and his company’s top officials — General Managers A S Puri and Girish Wagh, Assistant General Manager MB Kulkarni and other officials — visited two sites in the district. One was in Belur, opposite the Tata group’s Telcon unit, which makes construction equipment, on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway. The other was at Gamanagatti between Hubli and Dharwad.
Karnataka Minister for Major and Medium Industries Murugesh Nirani, Dharwad North MP Prahlad Joshi, Principal Secretary (finance) Shrinivas Murthy, Principal Secretary (industries) V Umesh and other officials accompanied the team to the sites.
“So far, their response has been positive. We hope they will decide in favour of Dharwad,” Nirani told Business Standard.
Later, the Tata Motors team met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy who offered free land plus incentives on a par with neighbouring Tamil Nadu
Earlier, a five-member Tata team accompanied by revenue officials visited two proposed sites at Alur and Sitarampur in Rangareddy district, near the state capital. The farmers in the district, however, are reportedly not in favour of the car project in their area.
State major industries minister J Geeta Reddy said there were four other suitable sites that could be offered, Nellore and Kakinada districts, which are close to a port, among them. In Nellore, the state government has already allotted 2,000 acres to Swaraj Paul’s UK-based Caparo for Rs 3,500-crore aerospace and auto components complex.
Yesterday, the government had announced an ultra mega auto policy (Umap) that offers a 100 per cent VAT reimbursement for 21 years and other incentives like land at concessional rates, exemption from stamp duty and supply of subsidised power.
Geeta Reddy said the new policy, aimed at attracting auto companies investing over Rs 4,000 crore, has been in the pipeline for sometime, but it is being viewed as being targeted to attract the Nano project.
