KOLKATA: West Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty is confident about another car manufacturer waiting in the wings to take over the Sing
ur site. He reiterated this at Writers' Buildings on Monday, saying, "An MoU with the automobile manufacturer will be signed by this month."
Chakraborty, however, wouldn't take the name of the company. Is it Bajaj or Maruti or Amtek Auto, a Tier-I automobile spare supplier to a whole range of automobile companies from Hyundai to Tata Motors? Or could it be the Tatas themselves with a project other than the Nano? The transport minister left the guessing game going on.
"I will not make any comment on this. The government will make the announcement in due course." He said he believed that "we should be able to have the automobile manufactured at Singur in accordance with the legal provisions."
According to party insiders, Chakraborty has a clue because he went public only after the CPM's state secretariat meeting on Friday. Days before the transport minister talking about this possibility, CPM state secretary and Left Front chairman Biman Bose had urged the government to look for industries on the acquired land.
"We have been given the impression that the government won't allow the acquired land to go waste. Some industry or the other is coming up in the area for sure," said a senior leader of the Hooghly CPM.
Chakraborty's statement has triggered speculation over state industry minister Nirupam Sen's recent visit to Punjab. Even as Sen had gone to his relative's home, party insiders believe that he might have had preliminary discussions with some of the auto-majors with their presence in Delhi and Punjab. However, there is no confirmation in this regard either from Alimuddin Street or from the Writers' Buildings.
Even chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee returned a grim look when asked about Chakraborty's comment, leaving indications that the party bosses didn't like the premature announcement by the transport minister.
The minister, however, said that there hasn�t been any detailed discussion with the administration on the matter.
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