Nano exit may hit Brand Bengal

Kolkata: The NANO may have been driven out of the state with the Rupees 1500 crore investment it entailed, but corporate Kolkata believes that the adverse impact of the pullout is temporary.

Most believe that the government would accomplish the task of industrializing Bengal despite the hiccups. But it promises to be a tough task indeed.

The responses from the city’s business community vary from that of distress to that of guarded optimism.

"It's like breaking a glass. It's broken. I mean, there's no point picking the pieces up and all that. It's gone,” said Director of JSW Steel, Biswadip Gupta.

There are optimistic opinions too.

“But we must understand also that this is by far an exceptional circumstance, an exceptionally unfortunate development. So I suppose we have to look beyond and we have to look ahead,” said the Chairman of Ambuja Realty, Harsh Neotia.

Everyone agree that the loss is not just about discouragement to investors but also about a cumulative loss of image for the state which would take time to mend.

Mamata Banerjee blames it on Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s governing methods, or more precisely, his manner of land acquisition.

Some even moot the idea of a singular land acquisition policy but business leaders say it is not a practical solution.

"You can have different models of land acquisition where industry can acquire land directly, where government can acquire land. You can have multiple ways to an end,” said the Vice Chairman of RPG Group, Sanjiv Goenka.

Yet the bottom line remains that rebuilding Brand Bengal is the most difficult task that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee now has at hand.

Back of the envelope calculations suggest that investments in the range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 crore have now been put at risk because there is no guarantee that Trinamool Congress won't misbehave with other industrial ventures in the state.

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