http://www.blonnet.com/2007/01/22/stories/2007012203440100.htm
Tata Motors flags off work at Singur small car plant
Kolkata Jan. 21 Tata Motors took a giant step today with the notional beginning of construction work on its Rs 1,000-crore small car plant in Singur at Hooghly district, which has been mired in protests and agitations for the past couple of months.
Earlier in the day, the bhumi puja for the plant was held at the site but not on land, the transfer of which is still a subject of controversy.
Heavy security
There was a large police presence in the area.
Yesterday, the district administration had extended the period for prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC till January 28.
The District Magistrate, Mr Vinod Kumar, said that the extension of the period was needed to keep the situation under control.
Section 144 was first imposed on the area for a month on November 30.
It was extended on December 29, the day Ms Mamata Banerjee ended her indefinite fast in the city.
A Tata Motors release said that the company had taken "initial preliminary steps for the construction of the small car plant with the consent of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation."
The civil construction of the plant is being initiated by the company.
Through contractors and sub-contractors it will deploy "appropriate and necessary" local people in various unskilled and skilled assignments.
The company has already taken steps to train people from the area for association with the project.
It is also organising groups of women from affected Singur families to supply food to the construction workers.
http://www.blonnet.com/2006/05/13/stories/2006051303530100.htm
Small car project: Tatas set to choose Bengal
Our Bureau
| Formal announcement likely in next few weeks |
Location hunting
Tata Group visited several locations in West Bengal to identify a site.
Officials had visited Kharagpur earlier, and later also visited Sankrail and Uluberia in Howrah district and Singur in Hooghly district.
SMALL CAR PROJECT: The Managing Director of Tata Motors, Mr Ravi Kant (right), and Mr Sabyasachi Sen, Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department, Government of West Bengal, talking to presspersons after a meeting with the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, at Writers' Building in Kolkata on Friday. — A. Roy Chowdhury
Kolkata , May 12
The much-talked about small car project of Tata Motors is almost certain to be located in West Bengal.
That is, if one is to go by what the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, had to say to reporters after the Managing Director of Tata Motors, Mr Ravi Kant, called on him at the State Government headquarters of Writers' Buildings here on Friday."It is final," Mr Bhattacharjee told newspersons when asked if it had been finalised that West Bengal had been chosen as the site for the proposed small car project of Tata Motors.
However, Mr Ravi Kant told reporters that West Bengal was "one of the States that had been shortlisted" for the proposed automobile venture of the Tatas. He declined to indicate a time frame by which a final decision in this regard would be taken. He also declined to confirm or deny whether the proposed automobile venture was the "Rs 1 lakh car project". The Tata Motors MD refused to divulge the names of the other States that were on the radar for the proposed project.
A formal announcement on the project is expected when the Chairman of the Tata Group, Mr Ratan Tata, calls on Mr Bhattacharjee sometime in the next few weeks.
Mr Ravi Kant met the Chief Minister to "congratulate him" on behalf of the Tata Group on the ruling Left Front's landslide victory in the Assembly elections.
Several locations visited
Speaking to newspersons, West Bengal's Minister for Industries & Commerce, Mr Nirupam Sen, said the Tata Group had visited several locations to identify a site for setting up the proposed small car project.
While Tata Motors' officials had earlier visited Kharagpur for this purpose, lately they had visited Sankrail and Uluberia in Howrah district and Singur in Hooghly district. The group's final response was expected "in the next 10-15 days," he said.
Mr Sen said Mr Ratan Tata would meet the Chief Minister very soon. He said the State Government would decide upon what fiscal incentives to offer to the Tatas "only after they have decided to set up the small car plant here and they tell us what they want."
At present, the major investments of the Tata Group in West Bengal include the Hooghly Metcoke plant in Haldia, Tata Metaliks pig iron plant in Kharagpur and the Tata Bearings plant, also in Kharagpur.
Middle class will drive the small car market: Ratan Tata
Our Bureau
Kochi , Dec. 8
BILLED as the Rs 1-lakh car for the Indian masses, the Tata group sees huge potential for its small car venture.
Talking about the project's relevance to India's rapidly growing middle class, Mr Ratan Tata told McKinsey Quarterly in an interview: "If you could position an all-weather car that was not a glorified scooter or a stripped down car, then I believe there would be a market potential for one million cars a year."
In a departure from traditionwith regard to automobile dealership and marketing, the company plans small satellite units, with low breakeven points, where some cars could be assembled, sold and serviced.
Touching on the social dimension of the project, Mr Tata said the company would encourage local entrepreneurs to invest in these units and train them to assemble the fully knocked down or semi-knocked down components sent to them; this would also do away with the dealer and dealer's margin.
The assembly-cum-retail operation would be combined with low-cost service.
Cutting down on cost, the Tata's small car project would focus on large volumes, using more plastics for the body, replacing welding technology with modern-day adhesives and low-cost assembly. At the centre of the project would be a large volume unit for the manufacture of all high-volume parts.
http://www.blonnet.com/2007/01/03/stories/2007010302481100.htm
Status report on land acquisition in Singur released
Our Bureau
| `997.11 acres have been acquired till December' |
Kolkata , Jan. 2
The West Bengal Government today released a status report on land acquisition in Singur providing details of the land acquired, chronology of land acquisition and payment of compensation to landowners and `bargadars'.
The status report enumerates in detail the important provisions of the Land Acquisition Act 1894, the "meaning of consent", the pre-award and post-award consents to amount of compensation, declaration of award and possession, mutation and conversion of the acquired lands and compensation that has been paid.
According to the report, a total of 997.11 acres of land spread across five `mouzas' in Singur, district Hooghly, has been acquired as on December 31, 2006. The process of land acquisition in Singur began with the publication of notifications under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 from July 20, 2006 onwards and was completed with the Declaration of Awards under Section 11 of the Act on September 23 and 25, 2006. Payment of compensation in accordance with the award began on September 25, 2006 and is still continuing.
The status report mentions that the "Act does not have any provision for the Collector to obtain individual consent of landowners to the acquisition nor is there any prescribed form for consent to acquisition".
It adds that the State Government, "vide Govt Order No. 1703-LA-3M-07/06 Dated 6 June, 2006, made provision for consent award under Section 11 (2) of the Act, and prescribed the form in which such consents are to be submitted".
It also states that "consent under Section 11(2) is a means of involvement of the citizen in determination of award. However, non-submission of consent in writing in terms of Section 11(2) does not prevent the Collector from declaring the award and acquiring the land... ..Not accepting the compensation after declaration of award for any part of land does not mean that the land for that part will not be vested in the Government".
Total compensation
The total compensation payable is Rs 119 crore. Of this, Rs 83 crore has been disbursed till December 31, 2006. Cheques have been issued to 9,839 persons in respect of 658 acres of land. A further amount of Rs 36 crore remains to be made to approximately 2,400 people.
The only action remaining is the payment of compensation to the awardees or their legal heirs, which is currently in progress, according to the status report.
http://www.blonnet.com/2007/01/05/stories/2007010502371100.htm
Tata Motors selects Singur residents for training
Our Bureau
Kolkata , Jan. 4
Tata Motors has selected a group of 11 trainees from Singur villages for 6-months training, according to a press release from the company.
The 11 trainees, all of whom have in the past attended Government-run Industrial Training Institute courses, have been selected out of the 21 candidates who responded to Tata Motors' initiative and appeared for a written test and interview held on December 25, 2006, at Singur.
The hundu:
Choice of Singur
Referring to the choice of Singur as the location for this greenfield car plant, the Tata Group Chairman said: “East India has been industrially ignored. Therefore I decided to locate the plant in West Bengal so more investment could flow in the region. It was a big leap of faith for us. This project will definitely improve the quality of life in the entire Hooghly district where the new plant is located.”
Construction work on the 250,000 unit plant, which is expandable to 350,000, is going on in full swing, he added.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/12/12/stories/2006121202931300.htm
Singur issue: Buddhadeb renews appeal to Mamata
Special Correspondent
| I will continue with the hunger strike and "see the matter to the end,'' says Trinamool chief |
· Mamata warns of a 96-hour sit-in by party cadres
· Advani asked to persuade her to end strike
Congress plea
Leaders of the State Congress also appealed to Ms. Banerjee to call off her strike. Over the past few days, Mr. Bhattacharjee has been appealing to the Trinamool Congress leader to withdraw her strike.
Another item
The mother plant would require 640 acre and the vendor park 290 acre. Already, nearly 55 vendors have agreed to come to Singur, with a promised investment of Rs 2,200 crore.
This was in addition to the Rs 1500-crore investment to be made by Tata Motors at the plant.
To speed up construction work, Tata Motors would switch from two-shift to three-shift operations, he said.
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