West Bengal is engaging in renewed discussions with Tata Group to expand existing operations and attract new investments across sectors, signalling a strategic push to revitalise its industrial sector despite past disputes over the Singur Nano project.
West Bengal is in talks with the Tata Group over a new round of investment in the state, Industry Minister Tapas Roy said on Sunday, in a sign that one of India’s best-known conglomerates may deepen its presence there. Roy said discussions were under way to expand Tata’s existing businesses in sectors including IT services, metals, hospitality and retail, or to open new units altogether.
The outreach carries added weight because of Tata Motors’ 2008 exit from Singur, where the company abandoned its Nano car project after a prolonged land agitation. In a separate account, the arbitral tribunal later awarded Tata Motors Rs 765.78 crore plus interest at 11% a year over the project’s withdrawal, a liability the state has been wrestling with ever since.
Roy declined to say whether that award would be settled by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, which challenged the ruling in the Calcutta High Court in February while the Trinamool Congress was still in office. He said only that the state would need to consider the issue carefully and that he was not prepared to discuss payment terms.
The renewed contact with Tata comes as the state government tries to project a more investor-friendly image. Earlier this year, reports said Bengal was preparing a single-window clearance system for investments above ₹100 crore, while other companies including Shyam Metalics have also been weighing fresh spending in the state. Separately, Tata Electronics has been adding to its own expansion plans elsewhere in India, underscoring that the group is still moving aggressively on industrial growth even as Bengal seeks to lure it back.
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