Singur is not our battle: Ratan Tata

TALKING BUSINESS: Ratan Tata says many Indian corporates still cut corners.

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New Delhi: In his first television interview since winning the Corus deal, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata told CNN-IBN that his company is caught in the political crossfire over Singur.

“I think Singur is unfortunate. It's not our battle. We're caught in a crossfire that's political," Tata said.

Ratan Tata also questioned the business practices adopted by Indian corporates.

“I think we can do much more. From the corporate responsibility point of view this would be much more in focus if enforcement of violation were undertaken in an effective manner,” Tata explains.

Commenting on certain segments of the industrial community Tata says, “There is always a view amongst some segments of the industrial community that they are above the law and they can manage the environment.”

Indicating that even post-license raj businessmen in India still believe that they can cut corners in getting ahead and influencing politicians he says, “Yes, it is still there and if enforcement was stricter and more uniformed then I think India can become a better place.”

In a keenly watched auction that stretched into the early hours of Wednesday, Tata Steel acquired the Anglo-Dutch steel major Corus for $11.03 billion. The competitor CSN had pulled out of the race after a final offer of 603 pence a share.

Explaining the situation, the Tata Group supremo says that he would have never put shareholders of Tata Steel at risk while bidding for Corus, despite paying a price higher than what was originally planned.

“I don’t consider that I have overbid for Corus. We have paid more that what we initially wanted to pay – that we offered in October. And that would have been the price at which we took Corus. Then we had a competitor who came in and between him and hedge funds the price of Corus went up. It never reached a level where we thought it would be a jeopardy to our shareholders to take it. And if we had reached such limit, we would not have taken,” Tata says.

Strongly denying that he is a gambler and that the acquisition of Corus was made in a rush Tata says, “I am not a gambler. We had a limit that we all agreed to. We tacitly decided that we would walk away if that limit was reached. And we never reached it.”

He, however, admits that the fall of share price of Tata Steel after acquiring Corus continues to bother him. “Yes, it did bother me and it bothers me even now because our share is being battered.”

On Wednesday, the shares fell by over 10 per cent on concerns that the deal was overpriced. However, he is hopeful that the situation will improve soon.

“But I believe that this is a short term and a harsh view has been taken. And as I said the other day, I hope that out in time we can look back and say we did the right thing,” Tata says.

(Catch the exclusive interview on CNN-IBN on Sunday at 2000 hours IST)