“Welcome”: When PM Modi’s SMS To Ratan Tata Helped Gujarat Get Nano Plant

‘Welcome’, a one word SMS from the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to the then Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata led to shifting the Tata Nano project from West Bengal to Gujarat way back in 2008.

PM Modi had sent the SMS to Mr Tata when the industrialist was addressing a press conference in Kolkata announcing the exit of Tata Nano project from West Bengal after violent protests led by Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee.

“When Ratan Tata said in a press conference in Kolkata that they are leaving West Bengal, I sent him a short SMS saying ‘welcome’. And now you can see what a Re 1 (worth) SMS can do,” PM Modi had said inaugurating the Tata Nano plant at Sanand in 2010 built at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore.

Mr Tata had announced the exit of the Nano project from West Bengal on October 3, 2008 and declared that the plant would be set up at Sanand in Gujarat within the next four days.

PM Modi had then said many countries were keen to offer all help for the Nano project, but the Gujarat government officers ensured that the project did not go out of India.

He had also praised the government machinery saying it was matching the corporate culture in efficiency, and playing a major role in fast development of the state.

At the rollout of the first Nano car from the plant in Sanand in June 2010, Mr Tata lauded the Gujarat government led by PM Modi for the help in setting up the facility.

“When we searched for another Nano plant, we wanted to move to peace and harmony. Gujarat stood out against all others in guaranteeing us all that we needed. ‘It was not just Tata’s project, it is our project’, Modi told us. We owe a great lot of gratitude for the support and confidence placed in us,” Mr Tata said.

Tata discontinued the production of Nano cars in 2018.

Mr Tata passed away at the age of 86 on Wednesday at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.