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The office of Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan N Tata said on Thursday media reports naming him in a corruption case involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a claim of a huge profit are “factually incorrect and appear to be motivated”.
The clarification follows media reports that said Tata’s name figures in the Israeli police’s recommendations seeking to indict Netanyahu in two corruption cases.
Israeli proposal
The ‘Tata project’ being referred to by the Israeli media, was a proposal received by Tata in 2009 from the Israeli establishment, seeking the assistance of the Tata organisation in preparing a concept plan, as part of a broader peace initiative with Palestine, for a low volume automotive assembly plant on the banks of the Jordan river. The intention was to provide skilled employment to Palestinians, Ratan Tata’s office said in a statement.
To be viable, the plan envisaged the establishment of a free trade corridor to Haifa to facilitate exports and offset higher logistics costs in Israel, it said.
“These discussions on the project were directly held between a Tata team and the Israeli authorities, and not with Arnon Milchan (Israeli-born Hollywood mogul), as stated by the Israeli media. Tata wishes to clarify once again that there has never been any partnership in any such project with Milchan,” it added.
A broad concept plan for a low output automobile assembly plant was prepared by Tata Motors. It never reached the stage of detailed planning or costing, as the peace initiative itself was not put in place. The car project died a natural death. During Tata’s visit to Tel Aviv on November 1, 2017 to address a conference on mobility, he met a team of Israeli investigators at their request, and enunciated these facts to them.
“Tata reiterates that the reports in the media of a ‘partnership with Arnon Milchan’ and the claim of ‘a huge profit’ are both factually incorrect and appear to be motivated,” it added.
Isareli police are probing Netanyahu and his wife Sara for allegedly accepting lavish gifts from Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer.
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