Media persons literally mobbed Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata in New Delhi on Tuesday. They were clamouring for comments from the industry doyen whose group has been involved in a controversy over the small-car project in West Bengal and is also in the race to acquire Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus.

But Tata refused to oblige the waiting media persons at the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas in New Delhi, where he had come to participate in a panel discussion.

He declined to say anything on questions pertaining to the bidding war for Corus. He also did not say anything on the ongoing violence in West Bengal and how it was likely to affect the group's small-car project planned at Singur. All the while, Tata's media managers had a tough time escorting him to the safety of his car.

After much jostling and a near-stampede scene, Tata finally managed to leave the venue, leaving the journalists empty-handed.

Tata was one of the panelists at a plenary session where Finance Minister P Chidambaram spoke on 'How to get $1.5 trillion of Capital Investment: The Resource Hurdle for Development.' -- PTI

(Above) Media mobbed Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas celebrations in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Photograph: Paresh Gandhi