Ratan Tata may hold a grudge againt Mamata but Tatas are pouring crores into Bengal

While Ratan Tata may still hold a grudge against West Bengal following the Tata Motors’ Singur debacle in 2008, the incident seems to have had no bearing on the new investments by Tata Group in West Bengal.

Tata Group, which deals in everything from steel to salt to software, has not only gone ahead with its expansion plans for a few ongoing projects, including Tata Consultancy Services’ SEZ in Rajarhat and a Tata Hitachi earthmoving equipment unit in Kharagpur, but its real estate arm Tata Housing just recently earmarked a Rs 600 crore investment for developing a three-acre land parcel near Alipore.

This is the second joint venture between Tata Housing and Keventer Projects, the first being the one which had jointly bid for a piece of government owned prime four-acre Calcutta Tramways plot, opposite Tollygunge Club, early this year.

Since the state government is yet to open the financial bid for the excess land at the CTC depot in Tollygunge which it had put on the block, this will be Tata Housing & Keventer Projects first joint venture in the city.

The real estate joint venture is the Tata Group’s first investment in Bengal ever since Cyrus Mistry took charge.

When Mistry took over the mantle, his first official visit to Kolkata in July 2013 as chairmanhe had said, “I would like to say that the Tatas never left West Bengal and we will never leave West Bengal.”

However, it must be noted that thegroup’s major investments in Bengal are from Tata Metaliks, Tata Consultancy Services, Indian Hotels and Tata Hitachi andalmost of these major projects were announced during the earlier Left Front government.

On Wednesday Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group, had in a programme in Kolkata said that he did not see any major industrial growth in the State.

The Hindu Business Line today quoted Amit Mitra, Bengal’s IT, Finance and Commerce & Industry Minister as saying that Tata was senile and clarifying that even Tata Group companies - like TCS and Tata Metalliks - are looking to expand their operations in the state.

Noting that Tata Consultancy Services has said it will create 20,000 jobs in a new campus in Kolkata, Mitra said . perhaps Ratan Tata hasn’t kept tabs. “Tata Metallicks applied to us last week. They want to expand. Doesn’t he know Anil Ambani is investing here? he said.

Mitra further said the “list of industries looking to set up shop here in Bengal is long and I need a whole day to read it out.”