For the first time in 14 years: Tata Group chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran meets CM Mamata Banerjee to discuss investment in West Bengal
Tata Group chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran met Banerjee for about an hour at the latter's 14th-floor office, also marking the first face-to-face conversation between a Bengal CM and Tata Group's senior-most executive since the group's forced exit from Bengal in 2008 amid the tumultuous Singur agitation (led by Banerjee, then the state's principal opposition leader).
Tata Group has a strong presence in Bengal through entities like TCS, Tata Hitachi, Tata Steel and Tata Global Beverages.
There was no official communication from the administration on Wednesday's meeting but Nabanna seniors said it revolved around the availability of large land parcels in the state. Another topic that the discussion might have explored was the possibility of a direct Air India flight to Europe, they said.
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Chandrasekaran now holds the post once held by Ratan Tata for close to two decades and then by Cyrus Mistry. Banerjee has never met either Tata or Mistry after taking over as Bengal CM.
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The Tata Group (and Tata Sons) chairman was accompanied by Confederation of Indian Industry director-general Chandrajit Banerjee; state chief secretary Manoj Pant, too, was present. Chandrasekaran left the city after the meeting, officials said.
Nabanna seniors say the Tata Group chairman has been in touch with the CM since their telephone conversation on the eve of this year's Bengal Global Business Summit. Banerjee had then spoken about their 'detailed discussion' and added that Chandrasekaran was 'keen' on attending BGBS but had some prior engagements. 'He has assured me that they want to invest more in Bengal,' the CM had said while inaugurating the 8th edition of BGBS.
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