Haryana tries to woo Tata Motors' to set up Nano plant
7 Sep 2008, 2203 Hrs

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New Delhi, Sept 7 (ANI): More and more States are welcoming Tata Motors to set up their Nano car plant after Singur site got embroiled in a controversy over land acquisition. Haryana too joined the list of these states on Sunday.

Haryana, where India's number one car manufacturer Suzuki is located said it was ready to give tax sops to Tata Motors to shift its Nano plant.

Tata Motors has suspended work at its Singur site after prolonged agitation spearheaded by the Trinamool Congress headed by Mamta Banerjee.

Talks are currently underway between the State Government and the Trinamul Congress to resolve the crisis.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said he had already held talks with Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors.

"I have already had a talk with Ratan Tata. If they want Nano plant to be set up in Haryana they are most welcome. It is not Uttarnachal that has offered Tata Motors a relaxation, but it is the Central Government that has offered them relaxation. Our State has its own industrial policy, which had been made in 2005 for backward blocks. Wherein we provide a relaxation to a company if they set up a plant in these backward blocks. If Tata's plan to set a plant here then we would provide them whatever relaxation would be possible," Hooda told reporters in New Delhi on Sunday.

Earlier industrially backward Uttaranchal had also offered to provide land and tax benefits to set up the Nano plant.

The Nano project has been billed as a key to the rejuvenation of industries in West Bengal, where the world's longest-serving democratically elected Communist government has changed tack for industrialization of the State after decades of focus on helping agriculture and poor farmers.

But many farmers say they were forced off their land and offered paltry compensation to make way for the factory. Of 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of farmland acquired for the factory, they are demanding the return of around 400 acres.

The possibility of Tatas pulling out has sparked anger among supporters of the project, many of them members of the state's ruling communist party or farmers who had received compensation or jobs at the factory.

The Trinamool has also come under pressure from urban citizens who see the protests as counterproductive to the state's efforts to industrialise. (ANI)