The Managing Director of Tata Motors, Mr Ravi Kant, today said West Bengal could well draw from the example of Uttarakhand, where a single investment in a small trucks plant by Tata Motors had significantly changed the industrial climate and investment scenario in the northern Indian State.
He said it was up to the people of West Bengal, the State Government and all stakeholders here to take a call on whether Singur should lose out on the opportunity to emerge as the first "automotive cluster" in eastern India.
Delivering the 7th Sri Jehangir Ghandy Memorial Lecture on `Sustainable Development through Inclusive Growth' organised by the Calcutta Management Association here, Mr Kant said Uttarakhand was all set to emerge as the next automotive hub of the country. Following Tata Motors' decision to set up a 2,50,000 units per annum capacity small trucks plant there, other players in the automotive sector, such as Bajaj, Mahindra and Mahindra, Hero Honda and Ashok Leyland had decided to set up operations there.
"We have set up our plant there in 11 months," he said, adding that the investment had lead to a complete transformation of the entire area.
Eastern India, he said, had missed out on the growth of the auto industry. Tata Motors had started the process of developing an automotive cluster in Singur with the West Bengal Government playing a "commendable" role as a facilitator in this regard.
"It is for the people here, the State Government and all stakeholders to decide what is good for the State. Whatever needs to be done has to be done. The automotive industry has a critical role to play, especially with regard to employment that would be created by way of backward and forward linkages," Mr Kant said.
According to him, Tata Motors had set up plants in Pune, Jamshedpur and Lucknow in the last 4-5 decades and the company had proposed to set up three greenfield projects in the next 4-5 years, including the ones in Uttarakhand and Singur. He did not provide details about the third greenfield project proposed to be set up.
Replying to a question later, Mr Kant said incentives were offered the world over for attracting investors and these should not be looked upon as something negative.
Later, Mr Kant, accompanied by senior officials of the State Industries Department, visited Singur to review the progress of work at the small car plant site there.
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