Tatas pullout jolts Bengal's industrialisation drive

NANO MOVES OUT: The Nano car was to roll out of Singur but now Tatas have decided to pullout of West Bengal.

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Kolkata: West Bengal's tryst with Nano is over. Ratan Tata has declared that the Nano plant will be shifted out of the state as according to him the atmosphere in Singur was far from industry-friendly.

Tatas announcement to pull out from Singur is a big blow to West Bengal. For two years, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Ratan Tata together tried to build the automobile complex in Singur which would have employed at least 6,000 people to begin with.

However, they met with resistance from just a few people who were to lose their lands. In the end the government and the Tatas gave up the fight.

"I think Ms (Mamata) Banerjee has pulled the trigger," Ratan Tata said at a press conference in Kolkata on Friday

Tata did give a pro-industry certificate to the Left Front government but the state's image has taken a beating.

With a brand-name like Tata refusing to associate with the state, the future of industry in Bengal looks bleak and the government, which appeared devastated, admitted as much.

"Our main task will be to generate confidence among the investors," Industry Minister Nirupam Sen said.

The departure of the Tatas is bad for Bengal's industrial outlook but politically it suits the Trinamool Congress, which believes this sustained land blockade will earn them the affection of the rural voter.

But in the process, the party may lose support of the urban electorate.

However, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee was unfazed and she blamed the government-corporate alliance.

"It is the campaign of the CPI-M and Tatas,. It hardly matters to us," a defiant Mamata said.

For a state suffering from industrial stagnation and desperate for an image makeover, the Tata pullout is bad news.

Now the government may have to put in extra effort to prevent other investors from staying away from the state.