How Modi and his Team won teh battle of Nano!!
2008
What West Bengal lost has now turned out to be Gujarat’s gain. But before bagging the prestigious Nano car project from Tata Motors, the Gujarat government under Chief Minister Narendra Modi had adopted a two-pronged “backdoor” strategy.
Since the day Ratan Tata announced his decision to withdraw the Nano car project from Singur, Modi and his team of “chosen” bureaucrats swung into action.
All through, the negotiations Modi and his team of senior bureaucrats had with Tata Motors executives and its chairman were kept under wraps; so much so that many of Modi’s ministerial colleagues and officials in various departments concerned were not aware of the ongoings. Even the media had a tough time digging out information on a day-to-day basis about the development.
The “deal” was kept a closely-guarded secret till Monday night when Tata officials informed the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) about the final decision taken at the Tata Motors’ Board of Directors meeting at Mumbai that night, sources said. A proposal sent to the CMO was later approved at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.
It was sometime in mid-September that Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant was reported to have made a secret visit to Modi’s official bungalow in Gandhinagar, where the first round of talks on the Nano project took place. Later, the CM began talking to Ratan Tata directly over the phone at regular intervals, convincing the auto czar about how the state government was ready to extend full support to the company to set up its small car project in the state.
Sources in the CMO said that Modi established a direct rapport with Ratan Tata by constantly talking to him over the phone.
Elsewhere, he appointed two of his trusted bureaucrats – newly appointed Chief Secretary D Rajagopalan and Principal Secretary to the CM K Kailasnathan – to hold regular negotiations with senior Tata Motors executives including Ravi Kant.
Apparently, Modi had entrusted the job of negotiating the deal with the Tatas to Rajagopalan when he was still heading the state Finance Department, much before he was elevated to the coveted post of Chief Secretary in place of Manjula Subramaniam, who retired on September 30.
Being credited for successfully handling the three consecutive Gujarat Vibrant summits, Rajagopalan had been in constant touch with Ravi Kant and other senior Tata Motors executives. He arranged the visits of the Tata teams to identify various sites in Gujarat – Savli and Padra in Vadodara district, Mehsana and Prantij in north Gujarat, Halol in Panchmahals and Mundra in Kutch.
Besides, Modi reportedly also roped in his political mentor and NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani, urging the latter to throw his weight behind the government’s efforts to bring the Nano project to Gujarat.
Sources in the state BJP said Advani personally called up Ratan Tata and persuaded him to set up the project in “investment-friendly” Gujarat.
A senior BJP functionary told Newsline that Advani himself started evincing a keen interest in the small car project since the day he learnt that Tata Motors had zeroed in on the Sanand site near Ahmedabad to relocate the project from Singur. Significantly, the Sanand Assembly segment falls under Advani’s Gandhinagar Parliamentary constituency after the delimitation.
Soon after the Tata team zeroed in on the Sanand site, Modi brought in his Principal Secretary Kailasnathan on the scene. Since both
Rajagopalan and Kailasnathan originally hail from south India, they started keeping a close tab on every move the two southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had initiated to woo the Tatas to set up the project in their respective states.
Both the Gujarat cadre IAS officers successfully used their contacts in the bureaucracy of these two states to apprise Modi of the day-to-day developments on the issue. In fact, Rajagopalan was in constant touch with his counterparts in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, said a senior official.
As Modi relied heavily on these two senior officials, Principal Secretary (Industries) Gauri Kumar was asked to handle the lower rung Tata officials, whenever they visited Gujarat in connection with the Nano project.
Despite the best of incentives offered by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the main factors that are believed to have weighed in favour of Gujarat are political stability, good infrastructure and industrial peace in the state.
Since the Assembly polls are due in Andhra Pradesh next year, the Tata think tank was not sure which party would come to power there, and what would be the fate of the project if it is relocated there.
In the case of Karnataka, barring the areas in and around Bangalore and Mysore, no other place in has proper infrastructure or logistics in place, sources in the CMO said.
Moreover, Modi has offered to provide all necessary infrastructure to the Tata Motors at Sanand for its car project and also the ancillary units.
Although Modi did not promise tax incentives and land at concessional rates to the Tatas, his assurance to the auto company to dole out indirect benefits by way of providing infrastructure convinced the automobile giant to set up the project at Sanand.
Sources said the estimated cost of the land purchased by the Tatas to set up shop at Sanand is put between Rs 300 crore and 400 crore. The government has, however, asked Tata Motors to make a staggered payment towards the land cost.
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Tags: Gujarat, India, Modi, nano, Narendra, Ratan, tata
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