The Hindu Business Line : Locals feel let down by Nano pullout

The local people, farmers whose land had been acquired for the project, vendors, suppliers, contractors and local youth who were hopeful of being gainfully engaged at the plant, were clueless about what the future had in store for them. For West Bengal, though, there was a silver lining in the dark clouds that had enveloped its latest industrialisation process. Big-ticket investors such as like the Sajjan Jindal Group and the RPG Group reiterated their faith in the State and said they stood committed to their proposed investments in West Bengal.

On Saturday, as the reality of the Tata pullout sunk in, residents of Singur wondered why Tata Motors did not wait for a little longer for a solution to the vexed issue. After all, they had already invested Rs 1,200-1,300 crore in Singur. Among the distressed were suppliers of construction materials, the prices of which had gone up sharply in the last two years. For example, the price of bricks had gone up from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,500 for a per 1,000-piece consignment in two years. The prices of housing stock and their rentals - which had gone up - are expected to come go down now.

The only ones who seemed unfazed by Mr Tata's announcement were the salaried class - many commute to their offices in Kolkata daily - pensioners and small traders. "The prices of essential commodities and vegetables had been going up sharply in the local market ever since work at the plant site commenced. Things were getting difficult for us fixed-income families. Hopefully, prices of essentials will now roll back to realistic levels," said one of them.

Meanwhile, the local CPI (M) leadership called a dawn-to-dusk `bandh' in Singur on Saturday. This affected movement of vehicles along the Durgapur Expressway.

Related Stories:
Tatas pull out of Singur; to look at Nano relocation
‘Pull-out unlikely to hit Tata Motors’ stock valuations’
Nano project: Ratan Tata to meet Buddhadeb on Friday
Fears of Tata Motors pulling out of Singur loom large

More Stories on : Cars | New Projects | Politics | West Bengal | Tata Motors Ltd

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