The Trinamool Congress made it public on X, posting: “Mamata Banerjee hosted Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and the Tata Group, for a constructive dialogue on Bengal's industrial development and rising alternatives. The assembly mirrored Bengal's dedication to fostering significant public-private partnerships that drive innovation, funding, and inclusive improvement.”
Chief Secretary Manoj Pant was current too. Officers stated the talks primarily centered on funding prospects.
From Singur to Sanand
This new handshake comes with previous baggage. In 2006, Tata Motors selected Singur in Hooghly district to construct the Nano automotive. What adopted was a large agitation led by Banerjee, who demanded that 400 acres be returned to unwilling farmers.
Again then, the CPM authorities underneath Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee stood agency. Banerjee, then in opposition, didn't budge. The protests unfold, grabbing headlines far past Bengal. In October 2008, then Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata lastly referred to as it quits.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had referred to as the transfer “unhappy.” In the meantime, then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi grabbed the possibility. “When Ratan Tata stated in a press convention in Kolkata that they're leaving West Bengal, I despatched him a brief SMS saying ‘welcome'. And now you may see what a Re 1 (price) SMS can do,” Modi had stated later.The Nano discovered a brand new house in Sanand, Gujarat. However the dream pale over time. Nano manufacturing led to 2018.
Guarantees on the Bengal World Enterprise Summit
Quick ahead to this February. The Bengal World Enterprise Summit got here and went with out Chandrasekaran. Banerjee had spoken to him the day earlier than. She advised the viewers, “He has assured (me) that they wish to make investments an increasing number of in Bengal. And he'll come to Bengal very quickly and talk about (issues) intimately.”
He has saved that phrase. On Wednesday, either side spoke of “rising alternatives” and new trade. Whether or not this may lastly convey a Tata challenge again to Bengal is but to be seen.
A contemporary blow for NITI Aayog
The identical day, Banerjee educated her weapons on NITI Aayog. A abstract report meant for West Bengal got here with a obvious error — Bihar was marked as an alternative of Bengal on the map.
She didn't let it move. Posting her letter to Vice Chairperson Suman Okay Bery on X, she wrote: “Right here goes my letter right this moment to the Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, New Delhi, expressing my unequivocal disapproval of their grave lapse in mapping West Bengal!”
In her letter, Banerjee referred to as it “an affront to the identification and dignity of the State of West Bengal.” She added: “Such a grave lapse in an official doc of a premier nationwide establishment just isn't merely a technical error however an affront to the identification and dignity of the State of West Bengal.”
She didn't cease there. Her phrases had been sharp: “Such a blunder in an official publication of NITI Aayog displays an alarming lack of diligence and respect in the direction of the States of the Union. This raises respectable issues in regards to the rigour and reliability of the establishment's work, which policymakers and residents alike rely on for correct and knowledgeable decision-making and casts important doubt on the standard, authenticity and credibility of studies and publications of NITI Aayog.”
She needs a transparent apology and steps to make sure it doesn't occur once more.
A frontrunner balancing each
Mamata Banerjee's political story started with protests over farmland. That very struggle despatched Tata packing. Now she sits throughout the desk with Tata's high boss, pitching Bengal as open for enterprise.
Seventeen years is a very long time. However the state's industrial future — and previous recollections of Singur — nonetheless form right this moment's headlines. For Banerjee, the message appears clear: Bengal's doorways are open, however its delight stays guarded.
