Want to bring back Tatas to Singur, send signal Bengal is investor-friendly: Samik Bhattacharya

Kolkata: Seeking to recast the political and industrial legacy of Singur, West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Friday said the state government wants the Tata Group to return to the Hooghly township, describing it as both an economic necessity and a powerful signal that the state is again open for business.

In an interview with PTI on the BJP government's industrial vision after the party's victory in the state, Bhattacharya said bringing the Tatas back to Singur would help erase what he called the "wrong message" sent to investors after the Nano project was forced out of the state nearly two decades ago.

"We want the Tatas to come back, and that too in Singur. We want to send a message to the entire country and the world that West Bengal is investor-friendly and is ready to welcome investments," Bhattacharya said.

The remarks come at a time when the newly installed BJP government is preparing a fresh land policy that it believes will form the backbone of a renewed industrialisation drive in a state that was once India's manufacturing powerhouse but has steadily lost ground over decades.

Referring to the controversy surrounding the Nano project's exit from Singur in 2008 following the anti-land acquisition movement spearheaded by Mamata Banerjee, Bhattacharya said the dismantling of the Tata Motors plant had become a defining image of Bengal's hostility towards industry.

"The scene of Tata leaving Bengal and the infrastructure being dismantled sent a very wrong message - that industries were unwelcome in Bengal. Subsequently, the cut-money culture, syndicate raj and institutionalised corruption worsened the situation. We want to correct that perception," he said.

Asked whether a Tata return to Singur would amount to a "prayaschitta" (atonement) for what he described as the mistakes of the previous regime, Bhattacharya said the departure of Tata Motors had inflicted lasting damage on the state's investment climate.

"We want Tatas to return to Singur or Bengal in any form, be it automobile or any other sector. They are one of the oldest and most respected and trusted groups of our country," he said.

The choice of Singur is politically loaded. If the movement against Tata Motors helped TMC chief Mamata Banerjee capture power and eventually end the Left Front's 34-year rule, it also came to symbolise Bengal's industrial retreat in the eyes of many investors.

The departure of the Nano project in 2008 and the subsequent dismantling of the near-complete factory sent shockwaves through corporate India, creating an enduring perception of policy uncertainty and resistance to large-scale industrial projects in the state.

Nearly two decades later, the BJP is seeking to recast the same site from a symbol of industry's exit into a showcase of its return.

The BJP leader argued that industrial revival in Bengal cannot take place without a fundamental overhaul of land acquisition policies.

"We did not have a comprehensive land policy. Mamata Banerjee had declared that the government would not acquire even an inch of land for industry, and companies would have to purchase land directly. Industries can't go door to door acquiring land under such an absurd and flawed policy," he said.

Bhattacharya indicated that the government is working on a new land policy, though he declined to divulge details before its formal rollout.

"What I can say is that without a comprehensive land policy, industrialisation will not happen. The government is working on it, and the results will become visible in the coming months," he said.

The state BJP chief sought to frame West Bengal's economic challenges within a much longer historical arc.

"West Bengal carries a 50-year-old wound of economic degradation. There were disturbances from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, including the Naxalite movement. Then came 35 years of Left rule and 15 years of TMC rule. Industrial stagnation became institutionalised," he said.

Drawing a comparison with other states, Bhattacharya said foreign investors had largely bypassed West Bengal.

"Maharashtra attracts around 13.6 per cent of India's FDI, while Bengal's share is around 0.6 per cent. These numbers speak for themselves," he said.

Yet, he claimed, investor sentiment has already begun changing following the BJP's electoral victory.

"An industrialist met me today and said they had decided to shift their plant and business outside Bengal. But after May 4, they changed their mind," Bhattacharya said, referring to the date the election results were announced.

Calling Bengal the "gateway to the East", he said the state's geographical location, ports and connectivity give it a natural advantage in attracting investments, provided policy certainty is restored.

On employment generation, one of the BJP government's central promises during the campaign, Bhattacharya said the administration would pursue a balanced strategy combining labour-intensive and capital-intensive industries.

"Unemployment cannot be addressed through a single model. We want labour-intensive industries as well as capital-intensive industries. Unless we achieve comprehensive and inclusive growth, we will not be able to send the right message to the rest of India," he said.

The BJP leader also launched a sharp attack on the previous regime's economic record, alleging that thousands of companies had either left Bengal or shut down operations over the years.

Claiming that several companies shifted out of Kolkata, several other firms went into liquidation, and tens of thousands of small and medium enterprises ceased operations, Bhattacharya said the government's priority now is to reverse that trend and restore investor confidence.

For a state where Singur once epitomised the clash between industrialisation and land rights, the BJP's attempt to bring the Tata Group back carries significance far beyond a single investment proposal.

It reflects the new government's larger political objective of rewriting one of West Bengal's most consequential economic narratives -- turning the site that symbolised industry's exit into a testament to its return.