Nano saga: twists and turns so far

by Indo-Asian News Service on September 7, 2008

The agreement between the West Bengal government and the Trinamool Congress-backed
agitating farmers Sunday night has removed the roadbloack before Tata Motors’ project to
produce the world’s cheapest car Nano. Here’s the timeline of the Nano saga:

May 18, 2006: Tata group chairman Ratan Tata announces small car project at Singur, 40 km
from Kolkata, on the day when Buddhadeb Bhattacharya was sworn in the state’s chief minister.

May 25: Angry demonstrations by farmers over “forcible” acquisition of land for the Tata car
project.

May 26: Former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu criticises Bhattacharya for mishandling
issues pertaining to the acquisition of land for Tata project.

July 18: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee sows paddy near Tata factory site to protest
“forcible” acquisition of land.

Aug 25: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) warns that Singur
developments may force industry to shift projects to other states.

Sep 25: Banerjee breaks down, says police assaulted her in Singur and shows bruises and tattered
clothes to media.

Oct 2: Bhattacharya calls for all-party meeting on Singur.

Oct 9: West Bengal crippled by 12-hour shut-down called by Trinamool Congress.

Oct 27: Save Narmada activist Medha Patkar holds meeting near Tata Motors factory over
“forcible” land acquisition.

Dec 2: Singur on boil as hundreds of farmers join protests, even as Patkar is arrested by state
police.

Dec 3: Protests intensify; Banerjee begins indefinite hunger strike.

Dec 7: Patkar meets then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam over Singur.

Dec 15: Former prime minister V.P. Singh meets Banerjee, asks her to end hunger strike.

Dec 21: Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi asks Banerjee to withdraw fast that enters 18th day.
Dec 26: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sends Information and Broadcasting Minister
Priyaranjan Dasmunsi as emissary to Banerjee.

Dec 27: Ratan Tata says no pulling out of Singur.

Dec 28: Banerjee breaks 25-day fast.

Jan 4, 2007: Tatas select first batch of trainees for Singur project.

Jan 10: Singur-bound Patkar detained by police in Kolkata.

Jan 11: Patkar released, but says she will return to Singur.

Jan 21: Tatas start work at Singur, women torch factory fencing.

Feb 4: Fresh violence at Singur, ahead of Trinamool Rally.

Feb 6: Ratan Tata says clear evidence of rival hand in Singur.

Feb 14: Kolkata court says prohibitory orders in Singur is misuse of power.

Feb 15: Bhattacharya holds first public rally at Singur, swears by Tata project.

Fen 23: Calcutta High Court slams state government over method adopted for Singur land
acquisition.

March 9: Tatas and state government ink Singur land deal lease.

March 12: Farmer Haradhan Bag, who was unwilling to part with Singur land, commits suicide.

March 16: Mob attacks Tata Motors’ factory fencing at Singur.

March 18: Explosion outside Tata Motors’ factory damages fencing.

March 25: Five guards at project site injured during clash with protesters.

May 24: Peace talks between state government, Trinamool fail.

May 25: Singur simmers as another farmer, Prasanta Das, commits suicide.

June 4: Basu says car project does not need more than 600 acres; 997.11 acres were acquired for
project and ancillary units.

June 14: State government rules out returning Singur project land to farmers.

July 2: Jobless Singur farmer commits suicide.

Sep 18: Tatas appoint first batch of 17 Singur youth after training.

Nov 12: Central Reserve Police Force deployed at Singur after fresh protests.

Dec 2: Trinamool Congress holds major rally to mark one-year of agitation.

Jan 10, 2008: World watches in awe as Tatas unveil name for small car, say Nano will cost
Rs.100,000/$2,500, excluding taxes. Singur protesters burn Nano replica.

Jan 16: Tatas give jobs to 80 displaced farmers.

Jan 18: Calcutta High Court says Singur land acquisition legal.

Feb 15: Tatas announce Nano roll out by October.

May 13: Supreme Court refuses to block roll out of Nano from Singur.

May 21: Trinamool Congress wins majority in Singur self-governance institutions.

June 27: Singur protesters break Nano factory gate at Singur.

Aug 7: Banerjee says she is willing to talk with Tatas on Singur impasse.

Aug 18: Bhattacharya invites Banerjee for talks.

Aug 19: Banerjee says 400 acres must be returned to farmers.

Aug 20: Talks between state government, Trinamool Congress fail.

Aug 22: For the first time, Ratan Tata says Nano will move out of West Bengal if violence at
Singur persists.

Aug 23: Indian industry begins rallying behind Tata Motors factory at Singur, says continuing
protests will tarnish state’s image.

Aug 23: Several states, including Haryana and Maharashtra, ask Tatas to relocate Nano
factory to their territories.

Aug 24: Trinamool Congress begins indefinite stir at Singur.

Aug 26: Bhattacharya says acquired Singur land for Nano cannot be returned.

Aug 27: Several industrialists, including Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, back
Tatas on Nano project.

Aug 29: Nano factory workers stay away from work.

Aug 31: Trinamool Congress delegation meets Governor Gandhi over Singur, who suggests
mediator to resolve impasse.

Sep 2: Cricketer and West Bengal’s sports icon Saurav Ganguly bats for Tatas.

Sep 3: Tatas suspend work at Singur, say alternative sites being examined.

Sep 3: Governor Gandhi plays mediator; state government, Trinamool Congress agree to meet
him to end stalemate.

Sep 4: Ratan Tata says all possible steps being taken to roll out Nano as scheduled; Gandhi holds
preliminary talks for reconciliation and says formal talks Friday, Sep 5.

Sep 7: Governor Gandhi mediates talks between Bhattacharjee and Banerjee, agreement
announced late night.
The remarkable Tata Nano journey

March 23, 2009

Tata Nano: A 6-year-long saga

It was the plight of middle class Indian families travelling on scooters with kids that prompted Ratan Tata to think
about an affordable 'people's car'.

"I observed families riding two-wheelers -- the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his
wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-
weather form of transport for such a family," Ratan Tata said when he unveiled the Tata Nano in 2008.

Ratan Tata announced his dream project of a $2,000 car on March 11, 2003 at the Geneva Motor Show.

Six years down the lines, it is a dream come true as the company plans a nationwide roll-out today (March 23, 2009).
With millions of people eagerly waiting to buy a Tata Nano, it is expected to turn around the fortunes of the company.

Image: Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata steps out from the Nano. | Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Also read: The historic Tata Motors journey

New Delhi: World's most affordable car, Tata Nano, was commercially launched on Monday Mar 23,

2009 and with it the car's rough journey to reach its market finally came to an end.

Nano is more popularly known as Rs 1-lakh car but it was not planned to be so.
Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata had just guessed a price to his planned low-cost car way in 2003
at the Geneva Motor Show but a newspaper headline made him firm up that figure as the price
target.
On January 10, 2008, the world saw the Nano for the first time as Ratan Tata announced his plans.
Tata didn't losing the opportunity to take a dig at Suzuki, who had doubted the viability of the project.
"A promise is a promise," Tata simply said while revealing that his company is launching Nano.
The Nano has a strong potential and Tata Motors say the car can sell over a million units annually,
which was the size of the entire Indian car market a couple of years ago.
Every car that Tata sells currently is built in Pune. The plant is now getting more active because part
of every Nano is being made at the plant because of the trouble it faced in the first location, Singur,
which was chosen to build the Nano.
Tata chose Singur in West Bengal for the car plant. No other carmaker except the oldest Indian car
company Hindustan Motors has West Bengal as its home.
But before Nano's home could be built, the Rs 1,700 crore project started facing tough opposition.
That was the beginning of the delay of over six months for the car's launch.
Finally, Tata Motors had to pull out of Singur and started its search for a new manufacturing location.
Vendors and Tata Motors suffered huge losses as 80 per cent of the plant construction was
complete.
The real challenge will now be to scale up its production capacity at Pantnagar and Pune before
Sanand comes online.
So the wait for the launch is over but the road ahead promises to be just as challenging as the
journey so far.
Mamata Sings For Singur.Tata Says Tata, Bye Bye

Posted on 09 September 2008

What would have been termed as a defining moment in the history of Singur and more
importantly West Bengal, by allowing a project of international significance the
government held some clandestine meetings with its opposition parties only to arrive at
an agreement that would drive away the dream project of Tata, or rather India.

It is all the more painful to hear the Tatas leave because they have not been made a
party to the decisions made, nor have they been consulted.

Agreed, what happened in Singur – the farmers’ agitation, the dharna by the opposition
(I’d not hate to call it a drama too) etc should never have happened. These kinds of
events and its repercussions force industrialists to rethink about their strategy in states
where there are high chances of pessimism and unwarranted opposition.

In my opinion, Mukesh Ambani was right in coming forward and supporting the Tatas.
And why not?

What people fail to understand is that where there is pain, there is gain too. Tatas
promised thousands of jobs in Singur factory itself. Added to it look at the opportunities
that will be available for the ancillary industries, the super markets, the infrastructure
works, the rural development etc.

You can’t just ignore a project of such national significance. This project would
definitely have brought India to the forefront of automobile engineering, industrial
revolution in Bengal and more importantly feed a few thousand families especially
during times of rising costs and crisis.

In less than a month, a viable project, dreams of millions, the crowning glory of the
India’s first business house came to a standstill.
And who is to blame?

Mamata may have her own reasons and she may be right from her angle. But she has
definitely left a dent in the minds of supporters who wants to see prosperous India.

Tata, on the other hand, has shown signs of a true corporate i.e. standing for what it
believes in. But certain times, you will have to also consider what the true national
interest is and break the rules to clear way for a larger interest.

The victory is not just understanding the problems and identifying its solutions but also
stretching oneself to attain the goals which are in the interest of everyone.   

Mamata singing for Singur and Tata saying tata, bye bye to Singur – both did not yield
results
Gujarat Opens Its Doors For Tata, Sanand To Be The Nanoland

West Bengal is supposed to be the intellectual capital of India. With the likes of
Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji and thousands of learned men, this
land of the learned has slowly and steadily become the land of agitators, unions, addas,
lazy babus and most of all “pointless” fighters. Their greed and fight for unjust right has
always landed them in trouble with Corporate India. Now, every corporate or
multinational that plans for India will plan India sans Bengal.

I am happy for the farmers of Singur that they got back their land. But I am not happy
with the fact that thousands of farmers who were in the brink of rejoicing a great future
for their children, a secured job and an opportunity for growth will miss it indefinitely
until a new Corporate messiah dawns the soil of West Bengal.

I will not be surprised, if a few of these farmers take some extreme steps. We have
already seen this happening in other parts of the country where farmers took their lives
after they landed themselves in financial crisis and Singur is no exception.

In a smart and quick move Tata Motors on Tuesday signed a memorandum of

understanding with the Gujarat government for relocating the Nano plant to Gujarat.
The plant will be located in Sanand, near Ahmedabad and will have an initial capacity of
2.50 lakh units, which will be expanded up to 5 lakh units. The project, comprising the
mother plant and the vendor park, will come up on an area of about 1,100 acres.. This
project is expected to generate over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.

It is learned that the launch of Nano, will be slightly delayed – apparently in the first
quarter of 2009. Tatas had earlier said the rollout will be in the last quarter of this
calendar year.

According to sources close to Tata Motors, the company would assemble the first few
units from their Pune and Pantnagar plants. Tata Motors currently makes  the Ace
Minitrucks from its Pantnagar facility.  It would be interesting to watch Tata sticking to
its original promise.

Whatever said, Budha’s loss is Modi’s gain in the fight for Nanoland.

On a different note, immediately after Tata’s exit from Bengal Karan Thapar ran a “War
of Words” show on CNN IBN featuring CPM politician Neelotpal Basu, Trinamool
politician Trivedi, industrialist Sanjeev Goenka and industrialist Rahul Bajaj. Here is the
link – Tata gone, West Bengal wonders whom to blame