Tata Suspends Work At Singur, Ready To Relocate!

KOLKATA: The Tatas have blown the whistle on  Singur  , or almost so. On Tuesday evening, the company has for the first time broken its silence after having silently pulled out all its staff from the besieged Singur factory on Thursday night.

The release says Tata Motors “suspends work” at Singur and that it is preparing “detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site.”

“In view of the current situation, the company is evaluating alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities,” the statement said.floating billboard

In some ways, this may not be construed as the ultimate and total pullout. However, if there is scope for any hope, this might be construed as near-final.

“Tata Motors has been constrained to suspend the construction and commissioning of work at the Nano plant in Singur in view of continued confrontation and agitation at the site. This decision was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour, who have continued to be and violently obstructed from reporting to work,” the release stated.

“The company has assessed the prevailing situation in Singur, after five continuous days of cancellation of work, and believes that there is no change in the volatile situation around the plant. The project’s auto ancillary partners, who had commenced work at their respective plants in Singur, were also constrained to suspend work in line with Tata Motors’ decision,” it added.

If there is even a strand of hope still, it lies in the official words of the company spokesperson, “The situation around the Nano plant continues to be hostile and intimidating. There is no way this plant could operate efficiently unless the environment became congenial and supportive of the project. We came to West Bengal hoping we could add value, prosperity and create job opportunities in the communities in the state.”

The Tata Motors release has driven the wind out of the West Bengal government, which may not have expected this to happen right now. It was making desperate attempts to find a mediator and on Tuesday night, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on the issue in this last-ditch attempt to salvage Singur.

Raj Bhavan sources confirmed that Mr Gandhi has agreed to be the official mediator. The chief minister also said later at Alimuddin Street, “I have asked the Governor to mediate.” In an unprecedented move, the Left Front has written officially to the Tatas requesting them to reconsider their decision in light of the fact that they are leaving no stone unturned to find a solution to the crisis.

Industry minister Nirupam Sen said, “This is a very sad day for West Bengal. If even now, we can all go and meet Mr Tata and implore him not to pull out of Singur, there maybe still some hope.”

Corporate circles were aghast. “Senseless obstinacy, mindless stubbornness,” said one and all about Mamata Banerjee and her agitation programme that has almost driven the Tatas out. Sources said unless there was a tangible improvement towards restoration of normalcy, it was obvious that the Tatas would take the next logical next step.

“As of now, there is just no sign. The dharna hasn’t been withdrawn, but even if it is, who knows there wouldn’t be skirmishes, an incident here or an incident there, somebody beaten up or a bomb thrown? Somebody will have to guarantee all that doesn’t take place, right? How else can any plant work?” asked irate industry sources.

Vendors have already confirmed they will lose heavily if the site is relocated. The Caparo Group, for example, has already pumped in Rs 69 crore. Others have invested in the range of Rs 10-25 crore. “Mamata Banerjee is talking about relocating the vendor park. Who pays for the re-location? Not she,” an angry industrialist burst out.

Besides, as everybody in the industry is aware, any relocation of the vendor park, even on the other side of the mother plant, will require a service road to be built. Who bears the cost? Besides, with vendors also having sunk in crores, is it possible to ask them to do so on their own?

During his last visit to Kolkata on August 22, Mr Tata had said, “Please understand, I am making a very genuine statement. I don’t have a motive, I don’t have a plan that I am working to. I have made a major investment here, to move would be a great cost to the company, and a great cost to Tata Motors’ shareholders. If anybody is under the impression that because we have made this large investment, we will not move, then they are wrong. Because we would move, whatever the cost, to protect our people.”

Days later, a very senior Tata executive had in his personal capacity, confided to ET, “My chairman does not play around with words.” Political observers across board felt that if the Tatas actually pulled out, it would also be a huge blow to Mamata Banerjee and her party.

“She will forever have to bear the stigma of ruining the future of an entire state and its people, just to gain enough political mileage from one of the numerous agitations of her life,” commented one of her close henchmen in anonymity.

If the company’s release is interpreted to mean that Ratan Tata has made his mind up, Singur too will be finished for good. All development that has taken place in and around the place, the numerous shops, the residential complexes that have come up, small businesses who had wanted to become Nano’s tier-II and tier-III suppliers — everything will now fall flat.

Land prices, which had zoomed from Rs 3.9 lakh to Rs 16 lakh per bigha for mono crop land, and from Rs 4.27 lakh to Rs 25 lakh per bigha for multi crop land because of the Nano project, will crash again. The economy of an entire region will get affected. Altogether, 13,000 families in Singur will be affected.

The Tatas have shown some small mercy to the people who had been trained and recruited recently. “To minimise the impact this may have on the recently-recruited and trained people from West Bengal, the company is exploring the possibility of absorbing them at its other plans.”

The Nano project is insured, but in case of a pullout, no insurance will be payable. New India Assurance had covered the project with an ‘Erection All Risk’ insurance cover that shields against perils like fire, explosions, acts of God, riots, strike, vandalism and project delays due to unforeseen circumstances.

However, New India chairman and managing director B Chakrabarty told ET, “In the event of relocation, no insurance covers will be payable as an insurable peril has to trigger off if claims can be filed or paid. In this case, no such insurable peril was triggered.”

However, the Tatas might not be interested just now in all that. The chief concerns were two, delay and risk to lives. “There has been a significant decline in attendance of staff and contractual labour since August 24. Some of the international consultants working on the plant have returned home. In fact, the existing environment of obstruction, intimidation and confrontation has begun to impact the ability of the company to convince several of its experienced manages to relocate and work in the plant,” the Tatas have said.

The Tatas have stated that work inside the plant was nearing completion in line with schedules. It had 4,000 employees engaged at peak workload. It has also been observed that the company’s efforts to “offer medical care in and around the region, which had handled over 17,000 medical cases, have been forcefully stopped by violent agitators.”

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