singur row: the ultimate winner

8/14/2019 Singur Row: The Ultimate Winner

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AN ASSINGMENT ON:

SINGUR ROW: THE

ULTIMATE WINNER

SUMMITED TO ENDEAVORINSTITUTE:-

MADE BY: -

SHAH URVIJABANSAL SIDDHANT

PARWANI VISHALPAREKH VISHAL

[D 8]

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INDEX

SR. NO. TOPICS PAGE

NO.

1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

3TATA NANO : AN INTRODUCTION

64 SINGUR A MOTHER PROJECT 7

5 PROBLEMS IN SINGUR 9

6 MAMTA BENERJEES ROLE 10

7 DECISION TO QUIT FROM SINGUR 12

8 RELOCATION TO GUJARAT 13

9 ULTIMATE WINNER 15

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We have been benefited a lot from the guidance and suggestions given to us by our

institute ENDEAVOR and all the faculty members, for their immense help in conduction of

the project. Their ideas and contribution towards our project has helped us a lot.

Our vision towards Indian economy and Automobile industries became clearer and properly

shaped. We also express sincere thanks to our all the teachers for the help, without their

co-operation and support it would have been difficult to complete our project.

We are very thankful to our colleagues and friends for their invaluable support in data

collection, who constantly supported and encouraged us in preparation of this report. This is

a genuine effort from our part, but if any error is highlighted, please regrets us for that.

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Executive Summary

The introduction of the Nano received media attention due to it's targeted low price. The car

is expected to boost the Indian Economy, create entrepreneurial-opportunities across India as well as

expand the Indian car market by 65%. The car was envisioned by Ratan Tata-Chairman of the Tata

Group and Tata Motors-who has described it as an eco-friendly "people's car". Nano has been greatly

appreciated by many sources and the media for its low-costand eco-friendly initiatives. The choice of

Singur was made by the company among six sites offered by the state government. The project faced

massive opposition from 2,000 of the 12,000 displaced farmers. The unwilling farmers were given

political support by West Bengal's firebrand opposition leader Miss Mamata Bannerjee with an eye to

the upcoming Lok Sabha (Parliamentary) elections. Due to opposition to Tata's Singur car-factoryby Mamta Banerjee, Tata Motors decided to cease operations in Singur on 3 October 2008 and

started manufacturing Tata Nano at its Pantnagar plant. On her protests and the consequent pullout,

the media heavily criticised her and The Telegraph even said "India is being raped by those who

profess to be her soldiers, the guardians of peace." Currently, Tata Motors is reportedly

manufacturing Nano at its existing Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) plant and a mother plant has been

proposed for Sanand (Gujarat).

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TATA NANO: AN INTRODUCTION

Dream-dream and dream, because dream gives vision, vision gives thoughts and finally

thoughts lead to the action". Each letter of these motivational words said by India's former President

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam goes exactly with Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata group, who in the year2003, dreamt of producing a safe, affordable Car for the common man. Finally after the wait of five

years, crossing all financial and technological barriers, Ratan Tata kept his promise and unveiled Tata

'Nano' on 10th January 2007, at the 9th Auto Expo 2008 in New Delhi. Tata Nano, cool & smart,

launched by Tata Motors is world's cheapest Car with a price tag of $ 2500.

The project has literally become India's claim-for-fame in the international media due to

Tata Motors' innovation in developing the car, as well as keeping it low in price. The car itself is

expected to boost the Indian Economy, create entrepreneurial-opportunities across India, as well as

expand the Indian car market by 65%.The car envisioned by Ratan Tata who has described it as an

eco-friendly "people's car". Nano has been greatly appreciated by many sources and the media for its

low-cost and eco-friendly initiatives which

include using compressed-air as fuel and an

electric-version. Tata Group is expected to

mass-manufacture the Nano in very large

quantities, particularly the electric-version, and,

besides selling them in India, to also export

them world-wide. One of the efficient thing done by theTata Motors which has made the Tata Nano

more promising is there pricing strategies. Tata

initially targeted the vehicle as "the least expensive production car in the world", aiming for a starting

price of 100,000 rupees or approximately $2500 US despite rapidly rising material prices.

As of August 2008, material costs have risen from 13% to 23% over the cars development, and Tata

now faces the choice of:

Introducing the car with an artificially low price through govt-subsidies and tax-breaks,

or

Foregoing profit on the car, or

Using vertical-integration, or

Partially using inexpensive polymers or biodegradable plastics instead of a full metal-

body, or

Raising the price of the car.

An increased price on the Nano will likely decrease demand.

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SINGUR ON THE ROAD TO BECOME AMOTHER PROJECT

In May 2006, the West Bengal Government decided to acquire 997 acres for the Tata

Motors small car factory in Singur. Singur is in Hooghly district, 45 kilometers from Kolkata. According

to a govt. Statistical Handbook on Singur block, 83%of the land is irrigated and the crop density is

220%. The crops produced are mainly paddy and potato but jute and a variety of vegetables are also

grown in the fields.There are five modern cold storages and a host of wholesaler's sheds (arat) in

Ratanpur-Singur town. Almost 6,000 families, including many agricultural workers and marginal

peasants will lose their land and livelihoods and in return the project will generate 10000 jobs directly

and indirectly.

Ratan Tata told the media that he was really impressed with the sincerity in the way

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee - the Chief Minister of West Bengal- and Nirupama Sen - State Industry

minister- functions. He knew the C.M since the time he took over. After his decision to withdraw the

Haldia Petrochemicals complex from West Bengal due to certain problem he promised the C.M that

he will come back later. Later the C.M and the State Industry Minister both invited him to setup an

automotive industry in West Bengal and promised to facilitate him with the necessary infrastructure,

land and amenities. The state offered the Tatas various sites like kharagpur and singur. Since TISCOit has been the policy of TATAS to acquire land free of cost i.e. 70% from government and 30% by

paying to farmers at nominal rates. Same game they chose to play in Singur.

A comprehensive package of incentives subsidy on land, concessional power, a soft loan

and tax paybacks to match the benefits that Tata Motors would have got in Uttarakhand or

Himachal Pradesh, was what got it to choose Singur in West Bengal for making its low-cost car Nano.

These are the benefits which had been given by Uttarakhand/Himachal Pradesh:

(a) 100% exemption from Excise Duty for 10 years.

(b) 100% exemption from Corporate Income Tax for first 5 years and 30%

exemption from Corporate Income Tax for next 5 years.

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These are the excerpts from the WBIDCs agreement between the Tata Motors Ltd. and West Bengal

Government, governing the long-term lease of land in Singur:-

The terms of lease to TML for the 645.67 acres of land for the mother plant are described below. The

lease rental payable per year per acre by the vendors will be Rs. 8000/- per acre for the first 45 (forty

five) years and Rs. 16000/- per acre for the next 45 (forty five) years. The initial lease tenure will be 90

years. On expiry of 90 years, the lease terms will be fixed on mutually agreed terms at that point of

time.

This particular area is most amenable for setting up a factory. Singur's topographical location and its

proximity to Kona Expressway, one of the best roads of West Bengal, easily make it the finest spot for

setting up the car unit.

The only official document publicly available on the project, the Gazette notification under

sec 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 between 19th and 24th July states that the land as

mentioned in the schedule below is likely to be needed to be taken by the Government/

Government undertakings/ Development Authorities, at the public expense for a public purpose viz.,

employment generation and the socio economic development of the area bysetting up a Tata Small

Car project.

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PROBLEMS FACED IN SINGUR

The struggle of a substantial number of the people of Singur against the

land acquisition began from day one when the Tata company representatives and the officials went to

see the land. The people refused to let them reach their fields and blocked their way and the Tatateam had to be rescued by the police.

Though the State Government has decided to compensate the land owners, no policy has been

taken for the landless agricultural workers, unrecorded bargadars and other rural households who are

indirectly dependent for their livelihood on land and agricultural activities. Almost all the land owners

had also expressed their unwillingness to give their land from the inception of the project, but these

appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

The farmers complain about 2 things - first is about the low compensation and the second is about the

lack of faith in getting the promised money from government. This is what one of the farmer Prasenjit

Das in Khaserbheri village says "What use is cash to me? Putting money in the bank and earning

interest is not enough, especially looking at the rising inflation. With land, my asset remains intact and

what I earn from selling my produce is a bonus." Das has another argument to press his case: "Even

if the government promises to give me a job, it fails to secure my children's future."

The farmers aren't sure whether government will give them the promised money or not. The

acquisition of the entire 895 acres of private land is virtually complete. Each of the landowners has

given his consent to acquisition at prices which are much higher than the prevailing rates. Disbursed

payments for 550 acres and the rest will be completed within the period of December 2007, the State

Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Nirupam Sen, told media persons. On 31st Aug, 2008 - 9

months after this statement from Mr. Nirupam Sen and still the payments weren't in the hands of

farmers..? If yes then they shouldn't be agitating and if no then the government has to answer why

farmers haven't been paid up till now?

Mamta Banerjees 'uncompromising' stand on the disputed 400 acres (compensation is pending for

305.47 acres of land among which 51.11 acres are under legal disputes. The actual figure then is

254.36 acres, where the owners have truly refused to accept compensation. Therefore, Mamata

Banerjee's demand to return '400 acres' is a blatant lie) of the Tata Motors plant at Singur is

approaching the predicted outcome. The Durgapur Expressway was blocked as a protest. Some

5,000 Singur farmers today gheraoed the block development officers office and held up hearings on

claims and objections to acquisition of land - for the Tata Motors car factory - by first disallowing

officials to proceed to the camp and later boycotting the hearing when the officers did manage to get

there under police escort. Mamta Banerjee went on a hunger strike urging the West Bengal

government fulfilled her demand to discontinue land acquisition for the Tata project at Singur, farmers,

who handed over their lands for the setting up of a car plant appealed to Trinamool Congress leader

to end her hunger strike.

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MAMATA BENERJEES ROLE IN SINGURROW

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee blamed the West Bengal Government for theSingur row as it broke the terms of the agreement with her party.

Banerjee, while alleging that Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhatterjee was taking all the decisions without

consulting TMC, said, West Bengal government doesnt respect us. It has broken the terms of

agreement. We are not ready for any more talks, said Banerjee, and expressed her views on not

having the TATA NANO plant in the state.

Banerjees statement came barely hours after Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi called for a spirit of

accommodation that was evident during the talks he presided over to break the Singur deadlock.

Bhattarjee offered 70 acres in lieu of the Tata Motors project site at Singur to unwilling farmers and

monetary compensation to those whose land fell outside, which was rejected by the TMC chief on

Friday evening.

Sonia Gandhis Congress sought to project itself as a responsible Opposition party in Bengal as it

rolled out the welcome mat for Ratan Tata and his proposed car project in Singur. While rallying

behind Mamata Banerjee in her bid to get Tata to relocate the project, Congress leaders stressed thatthey didnt want the protest to come in the way of Tatas dream to roll out a Rs 1-lakh car from

Bengal or Buddhadeb Bhattacharjees vision of an industrialized state.

The Singur agitation intensified On December 4 with Miss Mamata Banerjee going on an indefinite

hunger-strike and declaring her moral support to tomorrows SUCIsponsored bandh. Miss Banerjee

began the hunger-strike at Esplanade in central Kolkata after the state government had rejected her

demand for stopping fencing work at Singur and withdrawal of police forces from the area. Fifteen

farmers, including five elderly women, began a fast-unto-death at Singur today in protest against

police excesses and land acquisition.

Miss Banerjee declared that her party would block roads all over the state. You get lost, was her

final message to Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The Trinamool

Supremo apologised for the inconvenience caused by bandhs. We are not in favour of bandhs. But

there is no alternative.

The farmers assembled near the spot where Mamta Banerjee is on fast. They urged her to work

towards ensuring them a better future. They said in an open letter to Banerjee that they were satisfied

with the financial compensation provided to them by the West Bengal Government for the land they

had handed over voluntarily.

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The letter said: "If you continue your hunger strike, it will only worsen our hurt. If your protests are

aimed at ensuring our well-being, we request you to call off your hunger strike soon and cooperate

towards setting up the Tata Motors project at Singur. However, the appeal seems to have fallen into

deaf ears with Mamta Banerjee unrelenting

After 25 days of persistently refusing to end fasting, on 28th December Trinamool Congress chief Miss

Mamata Banerjee called off the hunger strike today. The MP, who had Complained of a blurring

vision, told reporters that letters from President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Dr

Manmohan Singh and former Prime Minister Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee had persuaded her to take the

decision. In Japaiguri, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the state government had specific information

that the rivals of the Tatas were encouraging trouble over the car factory project in Singur, Hooghly.

The comment comes a day after Ratan Tata accused somecompetitors of fuelling the fire, adding

a new dimension of corporate intrigue to the existing political issue. In an interview to a private

television channel, Tata had expressed the determination to see through the project that will turn out

cars costing Rs 1 lakh at the site some 40 km from Calcutta.

Farmers opposed to land acquisition in Singur twice set fire to fence posts at the Tata car plant site

ON 25TH January. a group of villagers wrapped jute bags soaked in kerosene around 10 wooden

posts and set them on fire at Beraberi, a group of women came to the site and set fire to the posts

again. The police gave chase but could not catch anybody. A police team later raided two clubs in

adjoining Bajemelia in search of the culprits but did not arrest anyone. This is the third time that

villagers have set fire to the fence posts since January 21, when the Tata Motors authorities

performed bhoomi puja (Land worshipping). In Calcutta, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

reviewed the situation with chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb, industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen and

other officers.

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ULTIMATE DECISION TO QUIT FROM

SINGUR

Amidst the rising protests of the dissatisfied farmers and instances of violence springing around the

singur project of tatas, Ratan Tata finally decides to quit Singur on 23rd September, 2008. The

decision was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour. The company

has assessed the prevailing situation at Singur after five continuous days of cancellation of work and

believes that there is no change in the volatile situation around the plant,

The Tata Motors announcement came when the agitation, led by the Trinamool Congress outside thesite demanding the return of 400 acres of land which it alleges had been acquired forcibly for setting

up the project, entered its tenth day.The situation around the Nano plant continues to be hostile and

intimidating. There is no way this plant could operate efficiently unless the environment became

congenial and supportive of the project. We came to West Bengal hoping we could add value,

prosperity and create job opportunities in the communities in the State, a Tata Motors spokesperson

said.Nirupam Sen, the States Industries Minister, described the development as very unfortunate

and very bad news for West Bengal.

The existing environment of obstruction, intimidation and confrontation has begun to impact the

ability of the company to convince several of its experienced managers to relocate and work in the

plant. Further, several persons engaged in the construction and commissioning work who had taken

accommodation at Singur and nearby areas have since vacated and gone away due to intimidation

and fear, the statement said.

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RELOCATION AT GUJARAT

On 5th October,The Gujarat government may be claiming that the Nano unit is headed for a site nearAhmadabad but there are indications that the race to host the plant is far from over. Senior TataMotors officials said that its MD, G Ravikanth, will be in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to meetministers. He will weigh up options for rolling out the Rs 1-lakh car from a site in either of two states.

Ravikanth will be in Dharwad to inspect a site for the Nano plant, officials in Karnataka confirmed.

This will be followed by a meeting between Karnataka major- and medium-scale industries ministerMurugesh R Nirani and Tata Group CEO Ratan Tata. "I am meeting Ratan Tata soon. We areconfident the Tatas will select Dharwad for relocating their Nano manufacturing unit," Nirani said.Ravikanth will also be visiting Andhra Pradesh.

Gujarat officials, however, claimed that a site near Sanand in Ahmedabad was the frontrunner in therace. In what could be a personal triumph for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and add insultto injury for communist Bengal senior Gujarat officials said Ratan Tata had agreed to relocate theNano plant. The site is located 25 kms west of Ahmedabad.

A formal announcement, most probably on October 7, when Modi completes seven years in office. Atpresent, the 2,200-acre site serves as a college and cattle-and-seed farm for the Gujarat AgricultureUniversity.

Things are already moving fast within the Gujarat government. The university has been informedabout the decision to transfer the land to the Tatas. The necessary paperwork for the transfer hasbeen completed. The revenue department issued a notification to acquire 60 acres of land in Chharodi

and Iyawa-Vasna villages for building broad approach roads to the site.

While pulling out of Singur, Ratan Tata had mentioned that locations in "three or four states" werebeing considered. While Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were incontention, what finally swung the decision in Gujarat's favour were Modi's incentives to the Tatas.The deal given by Gujarat is just as good as the one offered by WestBengal and, in some respects, better. As against 1,000 acres on initial offer in West Bengal, Gujarat isoffering 1,100 acres. This land is unencumbered and would be sold to Tata Motors at prevailingmarket rates. Tata Group said the Sanand plant being planned for a capacity of 5 lakh cars a year, upfrom the Singur plants proposed capacity of 3 lakh cars.

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MEGA ADVANTAGE TO NANO OFFERED BY GUJARAT

Soft Loan of rs.9570 crores, at 0.1% interest to be repaid after 20 years.

Relief from immediate 200% of gross V.A.T payment.

Repayment ofdeferred tax after 14 years.

Payment forland in 8 annual installments with compound interest of 8% per annum.

Exemption from stamp duty, registration charges, transfer charges, electricity duty, cost of

water and gas pipeline.

Government assured last mile connectivity.

Tata Motors, which is developing small car Nano project in Gujarat's Sanand, will get benefits worth

Rs.95 billion from the state government for developing infrastructure around the project area, sources

said. Tata Motors will get 20 years from the commencement of the project to repay the amount at an

interest rate of 0.1 percent. The amount will be repaid by adjusting value added tax dues of the

company, the sources said.

The company would use the fund to build a township and a 'transport nagar' near the plant location in

Charodi village near Sanand to meet the logistics support needed by the project. The government had

also pledged to provide 100 acres for Tata for developing the proposed township.Tata Motors

officials said the total amount was an aggregate of "various concessions", including the 100 acres,

stamp duty exemptions and concessional power tariff.

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THE ULTIMATE WINNER

The narrow vote seeking politics of mamta banerjee and trinamool congress can share the winning

position along with the people of Gujarat.

The majority of the title deeds were clear but ms.banerjee fought for the interest of the few farmersand for her selfish interests ultimately driving the much needed industry out of the state.

The people of Gujarat are the ultimate winner as under the dynamic leadership provided by the chief

minister narendra modi. Along with the jobs generated in the industry at sanand, a lot of ancillaries are

also coming up in the surrounding area which are generating a lot of jobs. Roads are being built up

and other amenities are coming up increasing the standard of living of people.

Tata group had to suffer a huge loss because of relocation of the nano plant from the relocation of

their plant from singur to sanand in Gujarat.

Tata motors'' decision to make low cost Nano car in Gujarat has kindled hopes of a lucrative business

among the auto-parts making small-scale industrial units in Rajkot. Industry experts feel that the

setting up of Nano car plant in Gujarat will give an boost to the manufacturing units in Rajkot.

According to the manufacturers, the setting up of the Nano plant in the state will also help them in

cutting down on their logistics cost as they would save around 1.6 million rupees a month on

transportation alone.

Experts say the entry of Tata motors is also bound to encourage other auto giants to come to Gujarat

and aid the growth of auto parts manufacturing industry in terms of business and also generate more

employment opportunities.

Hence in this whole scenario of the NANO plant the ultimate winner is GUJARAT.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

TIMES OF INDIA

ECONOMICS TIMES

INDIA TODAY

WEBLIOGRAPHY

WWW.GOOGLE.COM

WWW.SCRIBD.COM

WWW.TIMESOFINDIA.COM

WWW.ECHEAT.COM

WWW.YAHOO.COM

WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM

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http://www.google.com/http://www.scribd.com/http://www.timesofindia.com/http://www.echeat.com/http://www.yahoo.com/http://www.wikipedia.com/http://www.google.com/http://www.scribd.com/http://www.timesofindia.com/http://www.echeat.com/http://www.yahoo.com/http://www.wikipedia.com/

singur row: the ultimate winner

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