Mamata Banerjee, Who Led Movement Against Singur Plant, Mourns Ratan Tata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said she was saddened by the death of industrialist Ratan Tata, describing him as "a foremost leader of Indian industries and a public-spirited philanthropist".

Taking to X minutes after news of the 86-year-old industrialist's death became public, Ms Banerjee said in a post, "Saddened by the demise of Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Sons. The former Chairman of Tata Group had been a foremost leader of Indian industries and a public-spirited philanthropist. His demise will be an irreparable loss for Indian business world and society. My condolences to all his family members and colleagues."

Ms Banerjee's movement against land acquisition for a Tata Motors plant in Bengal's Singur had compelled the Tata Group to move the project to Sanand in Gujarat. At the time, the CPM government under the late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was in power. The Singur movement was one of the key factors on which Ms Banerjee built her challenge to the three-decade Left rule and eventually ended it in the 2011 state polls. Her rivals have often claimed that the Tatas' exit from the state in 2008 went on to hurt Bengal's prospects of emerging as an industry hub.

At a press meet in October 2008, Mr Tata announced the decision to shift the Tata Motors plant out of Bengal. "We have taken the decision to move the Nano project out of West Bengal. It is an extremely painful decision, but there was no other option. There is also a great feeling that we are doing the right thing," he had said.

Citing Ms Banerjee's movement as the reason, he had said, "You cannot run a plant with police protection. We cannot run a plant with walls broken. We cannot run a project with bombs thrown. We cannot run a plant with people intimidated," he said.

Subsequent court judgments held the land acquisition illegal and ordered the return of land to landowners it was acquired from. Last year, Tata Motors secured an arbitral award of Rs 766 crore in the Singur plant case, compensating them for losses related to the abandoned car manufacturing facility.