After Singur, a new chapter unfolds in Tata-Bengal saga

A meeting between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran has rekindled hopes of fresh investments by the group in the state that goes to polls next year. Ishita Ayan Dutt analyses

- Ishita Ayan Dutt analyses

A picture is worth a thousand words, it is said. The frame capturing a beaming Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted him with an uttariya (a traditional stole) at Nabanna, the state secretariat, was also rich in subtext.

The July 9 meeting marked the first formal engagement between a Tata Group Chairman and Banerjee, 14 years after she swept to power in 2011 on the back of a massive agitation against land acquisition that saw the dramatic exit of Tata Motors' Nano project from Singur and reshaped the state's political landscape.

After the meeting, Banerjee's party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), said that the chief minister hosted Chandrasekaran for a dialogue centred on West Bengal's growth. "The meeting reflected the state's commitment to fostering public-private partnerships that drive innovation, investment and inclusive development." The party also said that the conversation focused on deepening the Tata group's presence in the state.

A potential reset in the relationship with one of India's biggest conglomerates—or the start of a new chapter—it's a scene still unfolding.

But as a highly placed source in the government put it—the biggest takeaway is that the cloud of the Singur episode has lifted. "What emerges in the sunshine remains to be seen, but both sides seem eager to start afresh." "It's an open, objective business relationship with the state now," the official added.

Chandra keeps his word The moment has been in the making for some months now. The chief minister had invited Chandrasekaran for the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) held in February. He could not make it. But a phone call on the eve of the investor summit broke the ice.

At the inaugural ceremony, Banerjee had said: "He (Chandrasekaran) has assured (me) that they want to invest more and more in Bengal. And he will come to Bengal very soon and discuss (things in detail)."