)
Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry could be right in saying the Tatas have never left West Bengal, but the fact remains they have not announced new projects in the state since the Singur debacle. The group's major investments in Bengal are from Tata Metaliks, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Indian Hotels and Tata Hitachi. At the moment, TCS, Indian Hotels and Tata Hitachi are in an expansion mode, said a group insider. Though all major projects were announced during the earlier Left Front government, besides Nano, the group did not put these on hold.
The Tata Hitachi construction equipment manufacturing project was announced on the same day as the Nano project. Though Nano could never roll out of Singur, the Tata Hitachi plant at Kharagpur was commissioned in 2009.
The plant, spread across 250 acres, can produce 6,000 units annually, including excavators, wheel loaders and dump trucks. Currently, only 35 per cent of capacity is being used due to a slowdown in the construction equipment market. Last year, TCS, India's largest information technology company, announced it would double headcount in Kolkata over two to three years. A new campus, TCS's second, being set up in Rajarhat at a cost of Rs 1,350 crore would create 16,500 jobs. At present, TCS employs about 18,000 in Kolkata. It's another matter the land for the second campus was bought during former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's time. The first Gateway "prototype" from the Indian Hotels stable is also under construction.
In the existing line of business, Tata Metaliks is also making some fresh investment. Last December, a sinter plant was put up at a cost of Rs 100 crore. In the next year and a half, a power, coke and dust injection plants would be set up at a cost of Rs 165 crore. The power plant has been approved by the board, former Tata Metaliks managing director, Harsh K Jha, said.
