Winning Bizness Desk
Mumbai. In a major relief to Tata Group and blow to Mamta Benerjee led West Bengal Government, Arbitral Tribunal has given verdict in favor of Tata Motors and asking Mamata's government to pay compensation of Rs 766 crore to the Tatas for the project she protested and halted. Notably, the nail-biting protest made by Mamata Banerjee for the closure of the Tata Nano car plant at Singur in West Bengal, helped her become the Chief Minister of the state. Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing that Tata Motors had claimed compensation from WBIDC for capital losses on its investment in an automobile manufacturing plant in Singur between Tata Motors Ltd and West Bengal Development Corporation Ltd (WBIDC). The arbitration authority was hearing the matter.
With interest at 11 per cent per annum
A three-judge arbitral tribunal has unanimously ruled in favor of Tata Motors Limited on October 30, 2023. The tribunal in its order said that Tata Motors can recover Rs 765.78 crore from West Bengal Vikas Nigam Limited with interest at 11 per cent per annum from September 1, 2016. Tata Motors said that the tribunal has also ordered to recover the expenses of Rs 1 crore incurred on this hearing. With this decision of the arbitral tribunal, the ongoing hearing regarding the arbitration is over.
From Singur to Sanand
The Left Front government led by the Marxist Communist Party of West Bengal had given 1000 acres of land in Singur to Tata Motors to manufacture the Nano car. Tata Motors had also invested in a plant to manufacture cars at this location. But Trinamool Congress, Congress, and the current Chief Minister of the state Mamata Banerjee and the then Leader of Opposition Mamata Banerjee opposed the allotment of land for the factory. It created a huge protest forcing Tata Motors to cancel the decision of setting up a Nano car plant in WB. Tata Motors later set up a Nano car plant at Sanand in Gujarat. However, now the company has discontinued the production of the Nano car.
Buddhadeo Bhattacharya fought for Tata, but...
The then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeo Bhattacharya, made strong efforts for the construction of the factory. He believed that through this factory more factories would come up in West Bengal and industrialization would get a big boost. His government also expressed the belief that due to this, employment will be available to the youth of the state. However, due to the agitation led by Mamata Banerjee, the projects in Singur and then Nandigram were shelved. This protest led by Mamta helped her to dethrone Left's 34 years of consecutive rule in West Bengal.
