Nano pullout will be a setback for India: Jamshyd Godrej
August 29th, 2008 - 9:26 pm ICT by IANSMumbai, Aug 29 (IANS) Eminent industrialist Jamshyd N. Godrej Friday came out in support of the Tata Group’s Nano car project in Singur, West Bengal, terming as “unfortunate” the current political turmoil over the factory.Godrej, the chairman and managing director of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd, said that if Nano was compelled to shift operations, it would “be a setback for not just West Bengal but the entire country”.
He pointed out that the Nano was a statement of “the coming of age of Indian manufacturing and places India’s innovation skills high up on the world map”.
Godrej added that Nano was important for India and must be seen on the roads on time.
“The world deserves it and India deserves no less,” he asserted.
“It is, therefore, very unfortunate that the entire project is facing a political situation which it does not warrant,” Godrej said.
He urged the political parties involved to do their best to ensure that the concerns and issues of all the stakeholders are kept in mind, including the companies in question and the original owners of the land.
Nano, the world’s cheapest car priced at Rs.100,000, is set to roll out from the Tata Motors’ stable in October. However, in view of the constant unrest the project has been facing over land acquisition by the opposition Trinamool Congress, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata had last week warned that he may consider pulling out of the state.
The Krishijami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee (KJJRC), backed by the Trinamool Congress, has been continuing an indefinite protest at the Nano factory site since Sunday demanding the return of 400 acres of land taken from “unwilling farmers” to set up ancillary industries.
On Thursday evening, more than 600 engineers and executives of Tata Motors remained trapped for three hours inside the factory as Paschimbanga Kshet Mazur Samiti (PKMS) activists, squatted on the Durgapur Expressway near the gate leading to the factory.
The automobile major said that workers did not attend work Friday after Thursday’s incident.
- Security tightened at Tata Motors' Singur factory (Lead) - Aug 29, 2008
- Tata Motors 'assessing situation' after hold-up of workers (Roundup) - Aug 29, 2008
- We are assessing situation, says Tata Motors after gherao of factory (Second Lead) - Aug 29, 2008
- Mamata government tables Singur bill - Jun 14, 2011
- Save Nano Committee to prevent transfer of equipment - Oct 20, 2008
- 400 acres to be returned to Singur farmers: Mamata - May 20, 2011
- Bengal to acquire 400 acres at Singur to return to farmers - Jun 09, 2011
- Left Front lambasts siege of Tata Motors factory - Aug 29, 2008
- Trinamool to go ahead with Tata plant seige from Sunday - Aug 23, 2008
- Singur bill passed in Bengal assembly (Lead) - Jun 14, 2011
- West Bengal minister visits Singur site - May 31, 2011
- Trinamool continues Singur protests, alleges provocation by CPI-M - Sep 03, 2008
- Industrialists appeal to West Bengal opposition to end Singur agitation - Aug 30, 2008
- People want a solution to Singur impasse: Gopalkrishna Gandhi - Sep 25, 2008
- No work at Nano factory for second consecutive day - Aug 30, 2008
Tags: ancillary industries, chairman ratan tata, godrej, innovation skills, land acquisition, political turmoil, singur west bengal, tata group, tata motors, world map