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Marking a break from past hostility, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal industry minister, Partha Chatterjee, attended the inauguration ceremony on Friday of the excavator series at the Tata Hitachi plant.
Since 2008, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and the Tatas have talked mostly in reference to the agitation led by the party which ultimately resulted in the pullout of the Nano factory from the state. Chatterjee's presence at the Tata Hitachi ceremony raised hope for a breakthrough in the impasse between the West Bengal government and the Tata Group.
The venue itself — the construction equipment manufacturing plant at Kharagpur — is an interesting choice, as the project was touted as a twin of the Nano project. In 2006, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata announced his dream project, the Nano, at Singur. Alongside, another announcement was made regarding the construction equipment manufacturing by Telcon (now Tata Hitachi), then a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. Tata Hitachi is currently a 40:60 joint venture between Tata Motors (TML) and Japan’s Hitachi Construction Machinery.
Asked about a possible change in the equation and the significance of his presence, Chatterjee said, “Only the media sees things in this light. We have always maintained that we have nothing against the Tatas. In Singur, it was the (then) Left Front government's mistake at Singur for the project which created all the problem."
Tata Hitachi’s managing director, Ranaveer Sinha, did not shy away from noting in his speech that Chatterjee had never visited the plant despite several invitations over two and half years.
"You had come to Khragpur earlier to a neighbouring plant. Unfortunately, you could not come to visit this plant, So, it is a very memorable day for us. We are happy that you are finally here," he said.
Tata Motors and the state government are still embroiled in a legal battle over Singur. Immediately after Banerjee became Chief Minister (in 2011), an Act was passed in the legislative assembly which vested in the government the entire land leased to Tata Motors and its vendors at Singur. Tata Motors petitioned the high court here, challenging the Act’s validity. While the first round went to the state government, it lost on appeal to a larger bench. The state government then appealed to the Supreme Court, where the matter is still pending.
In recent times, there appears to be some improvement in the relationship, especially since Cyrus Mistry took charge as Tata Group chairman. Chatterjee had congratulated Mistry the day he assumed the leadership role. Also, unlike with Ratan Tata, the state government has been inviting Mistry for several state events.
Though Mistry was not present for the Mumbai industry meet hosted by Mamata Banerjee, the group was represented by the chief executive officer of Tata Consultancy Services, N Chandrasekaran. Many are viewing Chatterjee's presence at the Tata Hitachi plant as tacit participation from the chief minister.
Tata Hitachi to invest Rs 200 cr in R&D, upgrades
Tata Hitachi plans to invest Rs 200 crore over the next two years in research & development and upgradation work.
"The board has approved the investment proposal. We will find ways to finance it. Among the options to fund the investment, we might go for fresh equity or preferential capital," said Managing Director Ranaveer Sinha.
He added the firm faced a difficult time, with capacity utilisation only 30 per cent across all the three factories, at Kharagpur, Jamshedpur and Dharwad (Karnataka).
"There is a slowdown in the infrastructure sector. It is also impacting revenues. In the current year, the turnover could be around Rs 2,500 crore, as against Rs 2,700 crore last year," he said.
