Kolkata: The Tatas were welcome to invest
in West Bengal, but if they did not there were others who
would, Congress, the alliance partner of the Mamata Banerjee
government, said Thursday.
"If the Tatas want to invest they are welcome, but if
they don't that doesn't mean that there is none other to
invest in the state," WBPCC President Pradip Bhattacharya told
reporters here.
"West Bengal had the maximum industrialisation during
the term of Bidhan Chandra Roy, but there was no Tata at that
time," Bhattacharya said.
The Tatas will have to understand the ground reality
and if they want to set up a factory in the 600-acre at Singur
then there is no problem. They are welcome but they will have
to abide by government rules, he said.
Bhattacharya lauded the efforts of the state
government to return the land at Singur to farmers who had
unwillingly parted with it for the now-abandoned Tata Motors
Nano project.
"The effort of the state government to return the land
to unwilling farmers is creditable and shows its intention to
work honestly for the people," he said.
Speaking on the recent developments in the country,
Bhattacharya said, "Some political parties are trying to
destroy democratic institutions and Congress will launch a
full fledged movement to reach out to the people."
The movement would be launched on July 1 here where
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would be present, he
said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, June 16, 2011, 20:38