Tata's bye? Work at Nano plant suspended

THE BURNING ISSUE: A file photograph shows an effigy of Tata Nano being burnt by protestors in Singur.

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New Delhi: Tata Motors is considering pullout from Singur. The company, in a press release issued on Tuesday, says it is exploring alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities.

The press release says, “Tata Motors Ltd. has been constrained to suspend the work at the Nano Plant in Singur in view of continued agitation. This decision was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour. The company is evaluating options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities. A detailed plan to relocate the plant to an alternate site is under preparation. To minimise impact on trained employees from West Bengal, the company is exploring possibility of absorbing them at other locations.”

A spokesperson fro Tata Motors also said the situation around the Nano plant “continues to be hostile and intimidating. There is no way this plant could operate efficiently unless the environment became congenial and supportive of the project.”

Work at the Tata Motors Nano factory at Singur in West Bengal's Hoogly district remained suspended for the fourth consecutive working day on Tuesday.

According to The Telegraph newspaper report in Kolkata, Tata Motors and its vendors are losing about Rs 1 crore every day on account of work suspension.

There was no work at the factory on Friday, Saturday and Monday due to an indefinite agitation at the plant site by the Trinamool Congress, which is demanding the return of 400 acres taken for the project from farmers who did not want their land to be acquired.

The plant was closed on Sunday, it being a weekly holiday.

In another development, the National Highway-2 (NH2), which was partially opened on Monday night was again closed on Tuesday morning.

"We have been able to allow 55 trucks to ply towards Kolkata and some others to Bardhaman district till 11 a.m. Tuesday," said an official of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

He, however, refused to comment on why the highway was closed Tuesday.

"Senior NHAI officials will have a meeting with the Hoogly district administration on this issue soon," he said.

Tata Motors is slated to roll out the world's cheapest car from its factory in Singur, 40 kilometre from Kolkata, in October.