It was the summer of 2006 (May 18). Writers' Building, then the state secretariat, was buzzing with journalists. The event marked the start of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's second term as chief minister. And in style, it got off with West Bengal bagging the small car plant, Nano.
In a major victory for Tatas, an arbitral tribunal has awarded Tata Motors a compensation of over Rs 766 crore for the losses incurred because of protests by Trinamool Congress that stalled its small car project at Singur in West Bengal. The tribunal asked the West Bengal government to pay Tata Motors the compensation, along with interest, according to a stock exchange filing by the Mumbai-based auto major on Monday. The company stated that the arbitral tribunal has asked the West Bengal Industrial Development Corp (WBIDC) to pay the company Rs 766 crore compensation, in connection with losses incurred on its manufacturing site in Singur.
India's largest private port operator Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ) Ltd has emerged as the highest bidder for the West Bengal government's greenfield deep-sea port project at Tajpur in a neck-to-neck fight with JSW Group, a source said on Friday. APSEZ and Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group were the only two entities that took part in the financial bid round, though there were more port and logistics majors who had expressed initial interest in the estimated Rs 7,000-crore project in Purba Medinipur district. "APSEZ is the highest bidder, offering a share of 0.25 per cent of gross revenue. "It was marginally higher than the second bidder who offered 0.23 per cent," a senior government official said, without wanting to be named.
C M Bachhawat, who has served as finance secretary in the Trinamool government earlier, will take over as the industry secretary from Alapan Bandopadhyay. Bachhawat will also be given additional responsibility as executive director of WBIDC.
Accompanied by West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation managing director Subrata Gupta and local Trinamool MLA and school education minister Rabindranath Bhattacharjee, Bengal industry minister inspected the entire site and held a meeting with WBIDC officials at a camp office located within the premises.
Making a submission in the court of Justice Saumitra Pal, Tata counsel Samaraditya Pal said that 997.11 acre leased to Tatas (lessee) by West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (lessor) was not kept idle from the time of execution of the lease deed to the exit from the site by the company.
Less than five months after Tata Motors relocated its Nano project from West Bengal to Gujarat over land issues, another Tata group company, Tata Metaliks, is reviewing its expansion project in the state on similar grounds.
According to the lease agreement between Tata Motors and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, the lessor will have the option to terminate the lease if the land has not been used for three years or more, which will kick-in from October 2011. Tata Motors had pulled out of the Nano project in October 2008.
Arcil acquires non-performing loans from banks and financial institutions along with the underlying securities mortgaged or hypothecated by borrowers to the lenders.
The decision was reached after political consensus; sellers offered land-for-land deal.
After deciding to withdraw the Nano project from Singur in West Bengal in October last year, Tata Motors has sought 10 months time from West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation to remove the equipment.
The West Bengal government has handed over the first tranche of 533 acres to Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL) for setting up a new airport city project. This is to come up in the Durgapur-Asansol region, of Bardhaman district, at an estimated investment of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion).
The Videocon group, which signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the West Bengal government for a Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) steel and power project last month, has directly negotiated with land losers near Asansol for 2,000 acres.
Five months after Tata Motors shifted its Nano plant to Gujarat, another Tata company has decided to move a project out of West Bengal. Tata Metaliks has scrapped its 500,000-tonne billet project, proposed to be built with an investment of Rs 700-800 crore
Leading vendors of the Tata Motors' Nano project intend to set the ball rolling to return their land in the ancillary park area at Singur and said they aim to begin talks with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation on the issue immediately.
West Bengal, which has seen many violent protests against land acquisition in the country, is now set to get another exemplary rehabilitation package for land-losers. After the free shares by JSW Bengal Steel, now Bhushan Steel is going one step ahead to give free land to land-losers as a part of its rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package. Sources said the R&R package has been submitted to the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC).
In an important step towards setting up of Tata Motors' small car project at Singur, the West Bengal government signed the land lease agreement with the auto major on Friday.
Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen told PTI the Land and Land Reforms department had already acquired 1,000 acres and has ordered WBIDC to take possession of it.
West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur on Thursday signed a memorandum of association to develop the state's first biotechnology park at Kharagpur.
RusPromAvto, Russia's automobile corporation, is to begin assembly of heavy-duty cross-country 'Ural' trucks in India from next month.
After the Trinamool's overwhelming majority in the West Bengal assembly elections last year, the SSC scam has given fresh ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Ishita Ayan Dutt reports.
The words 'industry', 'industrial development', 'jobs', and 'employment' have been ringing with higher frequency since Mamata Banerjee stepped into her third term with landslide victory after a high-octane election last year. "Our government's next target is industrial development," the chief minister (CM) had been heard stating at different public meetings in the past few months - perhaps setting the tone for the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) slated for later this month. Investor summits by any state are about intent, big numbers, and tall claims. Yet in competitive federalism, its importance as a marketing tool is undeniable.
HPL management's control will go to the promoter who gets access to the 155 million shares block.
West Bengal government, through its arm West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, had decided to offload its shares (which included the controversial 155 million shares) following which IOC emerged as the sole valid bidder.
Speaking at a programme at Kolaghat in West Midnapore district, the chief minister said, "We are against forceful acquisition of land. In West Midnapore district the Haldia Development Authority and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation have land banks. "We will allot land for projects from there."
According to a source, banks have decided to infuse funds after Purnendu Chatterjee, chairman of The Chatterjee Group, agreed to invest Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) as margin amount into the ailing plant.
'Mamata has used minorities only as her vote bank.' 'In her entire election campaign Mamata did not utter a single sentence against the RSS.'
Mamata woos industry with boat ride to Gangasagar, Sundarbans
In a ruling which can have far-reaching consequences, the Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the controversial acquisition of 997.11 acres of land in Singur in 2006 by the then Left Front government in West Bengal to set up Tata Motors' ambitious Nano car manufacturing plant.
The 89-year-old leader was expelled by the CPI-M after he refused to step down from his position as Speaker holding that the post is above any party politics.
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Three PSUs, three private firms join bid to acquire 40% stake in Haldia Petrochem.
Govt depts, banks prone to information leakage.
It epitomises a significant opportunity lost, just when the state was beginning to shed three decades of leftist inhibitions in favour of economic reform.
The spectre of Singur and now its verdict is looming large on the future of many of Bengal's projects, especially the state government's industrial parks that are vacant. As many more episodes await, the question uppermost on everyone's minds is, how long will Singur haunt Bengal?
The project is awaiting clearances from the DGCA.
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