13 years after Singur movement pushed Tatas away, Bengal minister says 'they are welcome'

TMC's Partha Chatterjee further elaborated that the TMC did not fight against the Tatas nor can they be blamed for what happened in Singur 13 years earlier.

West Bengal's Industry and IT minister Partha Chatterjee said on Monday that the Tata Group is always welcome to invest in the state, as the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) never had any issues with the business house.

The 1,000 acres of land acquired by the then Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government on behalf of the Tatas was handed back to the West Bengal government in 2019 (HT Photo)

"The problem was with the Left Front government and its forcible land acquisition policy. Tata group is always most welcome to come and invest in Bengal,” Chatterjee was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Chatterjee further elaborated that the TMC did not fight against the Tatas nor can they be blamed for what happened in Singur 13 years earlier. "We never had any enmity with the Tatas, nor did we fight against them. They are one of the most respected and biggest business houses of this country and also abroad. You can't blame the Tatas (for the Singur fiasco),” the minister said, according to PTI.

Chatterjee’s comments assume significance because TMC came to power after dislodging the Left government in 2011 on the back of the anti-land acquisition movement in Singur. The movement forced Tatas to shift their Nano car manufacturing facility to Gujarat. The Left government’s Singur land acquisition in 2006 sparked protests by farmers, who alleged they were not paid adequately by the government.

The TMC leader claimed that Tatas have shown interest in setting up another centre, and that he is in touch with some officials from the group. "We already have the presence of Tata Metaliks, one Tata Centre besides the TCS here. But if they are willing to come up with big-ticket investments in manufacturing or other sectors, there is no problem. Our IT secretary recently told me they had shown interest in setting up a Tata Centre here," he said.

The 1,000 acres of land acquired by the then Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government on behalf of the Tatas was handed back to the West Bengal government in 2019 after the Supreme Court ordered the Tatas to do so. A bench of Justice V Gopal Gowda and Justice Arun Kumar Misra declared the entire land acquisition process illegal, void and a fraud. “This action of the state government is grossly perverse and illegal and void ab initio in law and such an exercise of power by the state government for acquisition of lands cannot be allowed under any circumstance,” the court order read.

Chatterjee told PTI that industrialisation and job creation is his party’s objective and was mentioned in the party manifesto and to that end the government is willing to extend help to any business house who can aid in job creation.