Singur: A setback for industrialization

The wrangling over the Nano car plant in Singur has finally been put to rest. Tata group chairman Rattan Tata on Friday announced the pull out of Nano plant out of Singur in West Bengal.

rattan tata and nano 7u5SZ 3868

The sad incident is not only a bad news for the industrialization program of the West Bengal but also for India as an attractive and investment friendly destination.

Tata's decision has raised many questions that the political class needs to answer in order to ensure that future economic progress of the country is not held hostage to the short-term political interests of various parties.

It also puts in focus the question of land acquisition and the stake of farmers in the industrialization process of the country.

Nano has been proclaimed as one of the biggest product from India by the national as well global media especially for being the cheapest car in the world.

The car plant in Singur would have generated huge amount of job and employment in the state but its exit from Singur will definitely have a bearing on the future course of industrialization in the state of West Bengal.

Hope, the politicians across the country learn some lesson from the episode and should be guided by vision rather than short-term political gains.

However, it’s a fact that in the recent past industrialization has generated a lot of resistance by the local population e.g. Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Haryana.

The governments in the states as well as at the Centre really needs to ponder at this vexed issue and reach at a consensus on the future path of industrialization in the country, which should be all inclusive and not for select few rich.

Singur is a microcosm of the larger problem facing the country; let’s learn something from this.