If Tatas don't invest in West Bengal, there are others: Congress

KOLKATA: The Tatas were welcome to invest in West Bengal, but if they did not there were others who would, Congress, the alliance partner of the Mamata Banerjee government, said today.

"If the Tatas want to invest they are welcome, but if they don't that doesn't mean that there is none other to invest in the state," WBPCC President Pradip Bhattacharya told reporters here.

"West Bengal had the maximum industrialisation during the term of Bidhan Chandra Roy, but there was no Tata at that time," Bhattacharya said.

The Tatas will have to understand the ground reality and if they want to set up a factory in the 600-acre at Singur then there is no problem. They are welcome but they will have to abide by government rules, he said.

Bhattacharya lauded the efforts of the state government to return the land at Singur to farmers who had unwillingly parted with it for the now-abandoned Tata Motors Nano project.

"The effort of the state government to return the land to unwilling farmers is creditable and shows its intention to work honestly for the people," he said.

Speaking on the recent developments in the country, Bhattacharya said, "Some political parties are trying to destroy democratic institutions and Congress will launch a full fledged movement to reach out to the people."

The movement would be launched on July 1 here where Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would be present, he said.