Where is all the development Mamata promised?: Kolkata fails to impress Ratan Tata

, Aug 7: Where is all the development Mamata Banerjee had promised? -

, chairman of Tata group, who is in Kolkata to attend an event, said he was surprised to see the dismal industrial scene in the city.

According to a TOI report, the chairman said, "I couldn't see any industrial development... All this looks like countryside development".

[Read: Is there growth in Bengal, wonders Oberoi Group]

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had promised to make the city a 'London', but the city has failed to impress Ratan Tata. To add to Kolkata's woes, the Oberoi Group announced on Wednesday that it also doesn't have plans for Kolkata or Bengal at the moment.

Surprisingly, Mamata or any member of the ruling Trinamool Congress has not commented on Tata's observations yet.

Speaking at an interactive session organized by the Ladies' Study Group, Ratan Tata said,"When I was coming from the airport I could see a lot of development coming up. I saw a lot of residential and commercial buildings but I couldn't see an industry. All this looks like countryside development".

Tata even added that West Bengal government should "look at what Narendra Modi has done for Gujarat". Interestingly, Modi and Mamata are political rivals. Their rivalry had touched a peak during the general election campaigning period, when both used aggressive language against each other.

Ratan Tata said that while he could overcome the labour trouble in his Pune factory, his experience in Singur, West Bengal, was bitter.

"We had to shift a completed factory out of Singur due to hostility to a different location. There was a great risk involved in doing so. We had 3 lakh orders for the Nano car. Customers had made full payment. We lost one vital year in delivery because of which much of the enthusiasm about Nano was dampened," he said.

"If you put a gun to my head, you pull the trigger or take the gun away. I won't move my head," he said, when asked if he would come back to set up industrial unit in Singur.

Tata had to leave Singur in October 2008 after TMC protested over compensation paid to farmers whose land were acquired by the industrialist. Later, Narendra Modi offered Tata land at Sanand in Gujarat. "I owe a great deal to Mr Narendra Modi who gave Nano its new home. A state government should be supportive of industrial groups and should not be biased against anyone. It should act as a facilitator," Tata said.

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