Mukherjee, Buddhadeb slams Trinamool Congress for driving Nano out of WB

Kolkata, Oct 5 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday slammed Trinamool Congress of West Bengal for pushing Tata Motors to pull out its Nano project from the state.

The External Affairs Minister said that though agriculture is necessary for an agriculture driven economy but at the same time industrialization is must.

"Industrialisation is a must. If someone believe that only through the development of agriculture we can sustain, yes we van sustain. I give you example, there are many tribes who at one point of time developed themselves in that atmosphere, in that context I thought the quarrel between industry and agriculture has been resolved with the crucial development of industrial revolution. But unfortunately when we find that still it is being neglected, I must say it is just attempt to put the gear in reverse direction it cannot take place. Development work cannot be built in the air, it has to be built on land," said Mukherjee.

Tata Motors on Friday said it would move out of West Bengal, where violent protests against the factory for its low-cost Nano car had forced it to stop work last month.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee spearheaded the prolonged protests against the factory that eventually led to its exit from the state.

On the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lambasted Banerjee for her continued agitation at the site of Nano factory.

"We just cannot depend only on agriculture. An economy cannot develop. And for that we must go for industralisation particularly for young people who coming out from university and colleges, they want industry, they want business. But unfortunately we are facing a very irresponsible opposition and it has created a serious problem. But I believe that one battle is lost but war is not lost," said Bhattacharjee.

Tata Motors, the country's top vehicle maker, had started looking for alternative locations to build the Nano, which it has said would be launched this month, and which is expected to be priced at just above Rs one lakh.

The company, the third-biggest carmaker in India, had planned to make 250,000 cars at the Singur plant in West Bengal initially, increasing capacity to 350,000 units.

Work at the plant was nearly complete when farmers, backed by Trinamool Congress stepped up protests, saying they were forced off their land.

Tata said the decision to move the project out of West Bengal was taken after farmers' protests refused to die down, and the firm feared for the well-being and safety of its employees and vendors.

Cost overruns caused by delays at Singur, where Tata Motors had invested about 350 million dollar, had already raised the cost of production of Nano, which was unveiled to a rousing reception in January and sent rivals scrambling for their own plans.

ANI