Tata Motors

Who will be the bigger loser from the Nano pullout Tatas OR West Bengal?

Posted by : sambala

India Cranks Out Small Cars for Export
By ERIC BELLMAN

MUMBAI -- India is becoming a small-car manufacturing hub for some of the world`s biggest auto makers.

Annual passenger-car exports from India have jumped five-fold in the past five years. Industry analysts predict exports over the next three years will surge nearly 300% to more than half-a-million vehicles a year.

India`s homegrown auto innovation -- Tata Motor Ltd.`s $2,500 Nano minicar -- has attracted global attention, but the export wave consists mainly of small cars built in local plants by Japanese and South Korean car makers, including Suzuki Motor Corp., Hyundai Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co.

Who will be the bigger loser from the Nano pullout Tatas OR West Bengal?

Posted by : sambala

Karnataka, Andhra roll out red carpet for Tata Motors

B S Reporters / Dharwad/hyderabad October 6,2008

Ravi Kant-led team does a recce of alternative sites for Nano project.

Having withdrawn its Nano car project from Singur, West Bengal, on Friday, Tata Motors intensified its search for alternative locations with a team led by Managing Director Ravi Kant visiting Dharwad in Karnataka on Sunday morning and sites near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, in the afternoon.

In both states, the team met the respective chief ministers and visited possible locations accompanied by senior officials, who took pains to set out the benefits of relocating the mother plant for the world’s cheapest car to their states.

In Dharwad, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, who was in the district on Saturday, stayed overnight to hold discussions with the Tata Motors team this morning.

Yeddyurappa reiterated promises made during an exploratory visit by the Tata Motors team last month to state capital Bangalore to provide land, water and power and other infrastructure to accommodate the car unit.

The chief minister said the land on offer was by the Pune-Bangalore stretch of the National Highway 4 and was well-connected with both the cities.
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
(Who’s offering what)
Karnataka
* Belur on the Pune-Bangalore highway
* Gamanagatti between Hubli and Dharwad
Andhra Pradesh
* Alur and Sitarampur* near Hyderabad
* Nellore and Kakinada districts
* Farmers reluctant to have project


He added the atmosphere — both social and political — was peaceful in the region, and it also had a salubrious climate. There are two airports nearby, at Hubli (25 km) and Belgaum (55 km), which would soon be developed to match international standards and the ports are just 200 km away.

Yeddyurappa also impressed on the Tata Motors team that Dharwad had two universities and a large number of schools and colleges.

Ravi Kant told Yeddyurappa he would get back to him in a week and arrange a meeting between the chief minister and Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata.

Ravi Kant and his company’s top officials — General Managers A S Puri and Girish Wagh, Assistant General Manager MB Kulkarni and other officials — visited two sites in the district. One was in Belur, opposite the Tata group’s Telcon unit, which makes construction equipment, on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway. The other was at Gamanagatti between Hubli and Dharwad.

Karnataka Minister for Major and Medium Industries Murugesh Nirani, Dharwad North MP Prahlad Joshi, Principal Secretary (finance) Shrinivas Murthy, Principal Secretary (industries) V Umesh and other officials accompanied the team to the sites.

“So far, their response has been positive. We hope they will decide in favour of Dharwad,” Nirani told Business Standard.

Later, the Tata Motors team met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy who offered free land plus incentives on a par with neighbouring Tamil Nadu

Earlier, a five-member Tata team accompanied by revenue officials visited two proposed sites at Alur and Sitarampur in Rangareddy district, near the state capital. The farmers in the district, however, are reportedly not in favour of the car project in their area.

State major industries minister J Geeta Reddy said there were four other suitable sites that could be offered, Nellore and Kakinada districts, which are close to a port, among them. In Nellore, the state government has already allotted 2,000 acres to Swaraj Paul’s UK-based Caparo for Rs 3,500-crore aerospace and auto components complex.

Yesterday, the government had announced an ultra mega auto policy (Umap) that offers a 100 per cent VAT reimbursement for 21 years and other incentives like land at concessional rates, exemption from stamp duty and supply of subsidised power.

Exiting Singur as have promises to keep: Ratan Tata

Posted by : Rose

Tata Motors have decided to pull out of Singur. In a meeting held with the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Minister in Charge, Department of Commerce & Industries, Nirupam Sen, Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons & Tata Motors and Ravi Kant, Managing Director, Tata Motors, expressed their extreme anguish at the heightened level of agitation and hostility by the opposition parties led by Mamata Banerjee, resulting in a concern for the physical security of their staff, contractors and vendors.



Threats, intimidation and instances of assault and general obstruction in one form or the other have been the order of the day. It was therefore that Tata and Ravi Kant conveyed to the Chief Minister that in the interest of the project's success and viability and in light of the opposition's continued agitation, there was no option but to move the project out of the state of West Bengal. Ratan Tata and Ravi Kant expressed their deep appreciation of the state government's efforts to facilitate and support the Nano Project.

Also read: Tatas to rollout Nano by Oct, Singur exit likely




Tata Motors had constructed the plant over the past two years, despite continued agitation, hostility and continuous effect on the reputation and integrity of the Tata Group also. Tata Motors almost reached a start up position of the plant. However, the heightened hostility and agitation had caused the commissioning and start up phase to be suspended. The contract labour had also been intimated and assaulted, thus making it impossible to continue. Tata Motors had suspended work for an entire month on the plant. Unfortunately, there was no de-escalation in the level of hostility and agitation. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and those supporting them, continue to demand a part of the land to be returned to the farmers by the Government, which would render the project unviable.

Speaking to the press about his decision, Ratan Tata said that he was hoping for some understanding and reduction in agitation but agitation increased in the last two years. “We have faced enormous disruption and intimidation. We have taken the regretful decision to move the Nano project out of West Bengal and do not see any change in the horizon in West Bengal. We have moved the project out of West Bengal as we have timelines to meet and promises to keep but we have not lost any enthusiasm for the project.”

Ratan Tata said that he is forced by situation not from the government but circumstances on the ground. “It is an extremely painful decision and has shattered many dreams but there was no other option. We are leaving because of Mamata Banerjee agitation, not because of the state government. We cannot run a plan under police protection, bombs being thrown and intimidation but we parted as friends and will continue to look at West Bengal even if Nano project couldn’t work out there.”

Ratan Tata said that he has taken the decision keeping in mind our responsibilities to shareholders. "We will include West Bengal in future plans for Tatas. We truly believe and respect what the Chief Minister is trying to do in developing West Bengal. We assured the Chief Minister that this will not hurt further Tata Projects in West Bengal."

Ratan Tata said that Nano will come on committed time. "We will soon announce about new locations for Nano and are looking for congenial environment to set up Nano plant. We will make makeshift arrangements to meet the Nano deadline. We are yet to evaluate the financial losses in moving out of West Bengal. We will try and relocate those we have trained for the Nano project in other locations.”

Ratan Tata said that the vendors are an integral part of process. "We will do everything we can to make vendors move with us and will protect them to the extent we can."

Ratan Tata did not want to comment on manner in which the land was acquired and on how land already allotted will be used. He believes land was acquired legally and under a transparent process.

Source:moneycontrol

Who will bag the Nano project ?

Posted by : latikav

With the Tata Motors announcing that it has decided to exit Singur, the Gujarat Inc is keeping its fingers crossed that the state might bag the multi-crore project.

"The state has offered three strategic locations to Tata Motors, for setting up the Nano plant in Gujarat," said President of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rupesh Shah.

"The three strategic locations offered to the Tata group for setting up Nano plant here are Mundra in Kutch district, Charodi in Sanand taluka of Ahmedabad district and one location in the Surat district," Shah said.

We are keeping our fingers crossed on the issue," Shah added.

Though the state government is tight-lipped on the issue, sources said that they have adopted back-channel methods to woo Tata motors to start a plant in the state.

"There is nothing happening now on the issue of Nano," state chief secretary D Rajgopalan said.

While making the pullout announcement, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata said in Kolkata on Friday, "We are exploring offers from three to four states."
Shah went on to say that they are ready to send a delegation of captains of major industries of the state to convince Tata Motors to set up the plant in Gujarat.

"If the need arises 11 captains of the Gujarat industry can convince the Tata group on how advantageous and conducive the industrial environment could be for them," he added.

"Setting up the Nano plant in Gujarat is extremely advantageous for the group because of two reasons.

Firstly, nearly 50 per cent of the car parts are produced in Rajkot, and secondly the extensive coastline of the state is just perfect for exports," Shah said.
Previously, the president of GCCI in a letter written to the group had clearly illustrated the added advantages of being in Gujarat, and the highly conducive industrial environment in the state.

Karnataka invites Ratan Tata for talks

Stepping up its efforts to lure Tata Motors to shift its small car project to Karnataka, Chief Minister B S Yeddyrappa on Friday invited Tata CMD Ratan Tata for discussion.
Soon after talks between West Bengal Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharjee, Yeddyurappa had a telephonic conversation with the Tata group chief and invited him to Bangalore.

Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa has asked senior officials to continue dialogue with Tata Motor officials to persuade them to relocate the Nano car project to Karnataka. The officials will be leaving for Mumbai on October 6.

This will be the third round of parleys the state is having with the Tatas, after the one held by Yeddyurappa two weeks ago.

As Ratan Tata made Nano`s exit from West Bengal official, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh renewed his invitation to set up the car plant in the state.

"Ratan Tata had approached me when I was on a tour to Europe. Now I will meet him to discuss the proposal,"

Deshmukh told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Pune on Friday.

Deshmukh, who returned from Europe a couple of days back after a tour to seek foreign investment in Maharashtra, reiterated that his government will give all necessary facilities to start the Nano plant in the state.
In a letter to Ratan Tata, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked him to utilise the company`s unused land at Gopalpur in Ganjam district and avail all facilities provided to investors under the Industrial Policy Resolution-2007.

"I wonder why you are not considering setting up the project at Gopalpur in Orissa where you have in your possession about 3700 acres land since 1998," Patnaik said in the letter.

Batting in favour of the state, Patnaik said Gopalpur was located on the National Highway-5 and right on the rail route connecting Kolkata and Chennai.

Orissa had been a favourite destination for investors from across the globe in the mineral, IT and tourism sector, the chief minister said, adding for the past three years, the state has received the highest investment proposals in the country.

"I shall be thankful if a decision is taken to set up the project at Gopalpur at the earliest," Patnaik said.

Earlier, the leader of opposition J B Patnaik, during whose chief ministership, the land was awarded to the Tatas, had also invited the company to set up the project in the state.

"I have already told the Tatas through media that they are welcome to set up the Nano car manufacturing unit in Orissa," the senior Congress leader said adding this was an opportunity for the company to properly utilise its unused land at Gopalpur.

continued................

Who will be the bigger loser from the Nano pullout Tatas OR West Bengal?

Posted by : sambala

Locals feel let down by Nano pullout



Kolkata, Oct. 4

A day after Mr Ratan Tata announced that he was pulling the Nano project out of West Bengal, Singur continued to be engulfed in despair.

The local people, farmers whose land had been acquired for the project, vendors, suppliers, contractors and local youth who were hopeful of being gainfully engaged at the plant, were clueless about what the future had in store for them. For West Bengal, though, there was a silver lining in the dark clouds that had enveloped its latest industrialisation process. Big-ticket investors such as like the Sajjan Jindal Group and the RPG Group reiterated their faith in the State and said they stood committed to their proposed investments in West Bengal.

On Saturday, as the reality of the Tata pullout sunk in, residents of Singur wondered why Tata Motors did not wait for a little longer for a solution to the vexed issue. After all, they had already invested Rs 1,200-1,300 crore in Singur. Among the distressed were suppliers of construction materials, the prices of which had gone up sharply in the last two years. For example, the price of bricks had gone up from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,500 for a per 1,000-piece consignment in two years. The prices of housing stock and their rentals - which had gone up - are expected to come go down now.

The only ones who seemed unfazed by Mr Tata`s announcement were the salaried class - many commute to their offices in Kolkata daily - pensioners and small traders. "The prices of essential commodities and vegetables had been going up sharply in the local market ever since work at the plant site commenced. Things were getting difficult for us fixed-income families. Hopefully, prices of essentials will now roll back to realistic levels," said one of them.

Meanwhile, the local CPI (M) leadership called a dawn-to-dusk `bandh` in Singur on Saturday. This affected movement of vehicles along the Durgapur Expressway.

Exiting Singur as have promises to keep: Ratan Tata

Posted by : jstocks

It seems like the problem in Singur has just started. farmers have sold their lands to the govt. Now they wont get them back, even given back some of the land may be impossible to cultivate. There is a lot of blam game going on and will go on for a long time. Industry may not venture out in WB. Tough times ahead for Singur and WB.

Who will be the bigger loser from the Nano pullout Tatas OR West Bengal?

Posted by : sambala

Karnataka team to meet Tata officials next week

Press Trust of India / Bangalore October 04, 2008

A team of officials from Karnataka were expected to call on top management of Tata Motors at Pune next week to impress upon the company to consider its offer for shifting the Nano car project to the state.


Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa swung into action soon after negotiations between Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata and his West Bengal counterpart Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee failed to resolve the impasse over the Singur project and the industry major deciding to bid good bye to Singur.

Yeddyurappa who had a telephonic conversation with Ratan Tata, invited him to visit Bangalore shortly for further talks on the offers made by him, which included 1,000 acres of land at Dharwad, close to the existing Tata Motors plant.

Yeddyurappa also asked his Principal Secretary V P Baligar and Industries Secretary Umesh to hold discussions with Tata Motors Managing Director G Ravikanth.

Meanwhile sources in the Chief Minister`s Secretariat said two days ago a team of officials from Tata Motors were in the city for a discussion with state officials.

During the meeting it was briefed to them about the investment climate that existed in the state, besides the salubrious environs of Dharwad.

Sources said the officials team from the state also impressed on their Tata Motors representatives that in the event of the Nano project being established at Dharwad, it has proximity to Pune, where the firm has major manufacturing facility.

Who will be the bigger loser from the Nano pullout Tatas OR West Bengal?

Posted by : sambala

Karnataka’s offer to Tatas



S.Rajendran







Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has directed Minister for Large and Medium Industries Murugesh Nirani to visit Pune and Mumbai on Saturday to call on senior Tata Motors officials and impress on them to set up the Nano car plant in this State.

Mr. Yeddyurappa, who chaired a high-level meeting on Friday night, told The Hindu that the State government would extend all support to the Tatas to set up their manufacturing plant here. Tata Motors’ Managing Director Ravikanth is in touch with the State government.

Exiting Singur as have promises to keep: Ratan Tata

Posted by : jstocks

It seems like the problem in Singur has just started. farmers have sold their lands to the govt. Now they wont get them back, even given back some of the land may be impossible to cultivate. There is a lot of blam game going on and will go on for a long time. Industry may not venture out in WB. Tough times ahead for Singur and WB.

Exiting Singur as have promises to keep: Ratan Tata

Posted by : Rose

Tata Motors have decided to pull out of Singur. In a meeting held with the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Minister in Charge, Department of Commerce & Industries, Nirupam Sen, Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons & Tata Motors and Ravi Kant, Managing Director, Tata Motors, expressed their extreme anguish at the heightened level of agitation and hostility by the opposition parties led by Mamata Banerjee, resulting in a concern for the physical security of their staff, contractors and vendors.



Threats, intimidation and instances of assault and general obstruction in one form or the other have been the order of the day. It was therefore that Tata and Ravi Kant conveyed to the Chief Minister that in the interest of the project's success and viability and in light of the opposition's continued agitation, there was no option but to move the project out of the state of West Bengal. Ratan Tata and Ravi Kant expressed their deep appreciation of the state government's efforts to facilitate and support the Nano Project.

Also read: Tatas to rollout Nano by Oct, Singur exit likely




Tata Motors had constructed the plant over the past two years, despite continued agitation, hostility and continuous effect on the reputation and integrity of the Tata Group also. Tata Motors almost reached a start up position of the plant. However, the heightened hostility and agitation had caused the commissioning and start up phase to be suspended. The contract labour had also been intimated and assaulted, thus making it impossible to continue. Tata Motors had suspended work for an entire month on the plant. Unfortunately, there was no de-escalation in the level of hostility and agitation. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and those supporting them, continue to demand a part of the land to be returned to the farmers by the Government, which would render the project unviable.

Speaking to the press about his decision, Ratan Tata said that he was hoping for some understanding and reduction in agitation but agitation increased in the last two years. “We have faced enormous disruption and intimidation. We have taken the regretful decision to move the Nano project out of West Bengal and do not see any change in the horizon in West Bengal. We have moved the project out of West Bengal as we have timelines to meet and promises to keep but we have not lost any enthusiasm for the project.”

Ratan Tata said that he is forced by situation not from the government but circumstances on the ground. “It is an extremely painful decision and has shattered many dreams but there was no other option. We are leaving because of Mamata Banerjee agitation, not because of the state government. We cannot run a plan under police protection, bombs being thrown and intimidation but we parted as friends and will continue to look at West Bengal even if Nano project couldn’t work out there.”

Ratan Tata said that he has taken the decision keeping in mind our responsibilities to shareholders. "We will include West Bengal in future plans for Tatas. We truly believe and respect what the Chief Minister is trying to do in developing West Bengal. We assured the Chief Minister that this will not hurt further Tata Projects in West Bengal."

Ratan Tata said that Nano will come on committed time. "We will soon announce about new locations for Nano and are looking for congenial environment to set up Nano plant. We will make makeshift arrangements to meet the Nano deadline. We are yet to evaluate the financial losses in moving out of West Bengal. We will try and relocate those we have trained for the Nano project in other locations.”

Ratan Tata said that the vendors are an integral part of process. "We will do everything we can to make vendors move with us and will protect them to the extent we can."

Ratan Tata did not want to comment on manner in which the land was acquired and on how land already allotted will be used. He believes land was acquired legally and under a transparent process.

Source:moneycontrol