This time last year, Finnish cellular major Nokia chose to invest in Chennai, not Mumbai, where it had scouted for land a half-hour away from the airport. General Motors is now said to be in secret meetings with Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, all competing to house its next small-car manufacturing facility.

So, when West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said Tata Motors would open its Rs 1 lakh car facility in his state, officials in Mumbai, who will place a new five-year industrial policy before State Cabinet soon, were listening keenly.

For Ratan Tata has been a visitor to Mantralaya, where the Vilasrao Deshmukh government is sprucing up its act since last June to bag multicrore mega projects with aggressive marketing and fast-track clearances—target, less than 15 days—as the southern states,

Gujarat and West Bengal compete for major deals that Maharashtra, India’s top industrial state, is also eyeing.

State industry officials are tightlipped on Tata’s Rs 1 lakh car facility going to West Bengal, and emphasise that the company hasn’t confirmed the decision is final.

‘‘They (Tata Motors) are talking to a number of states for a number of projects,’’ said a top industries official, refusing to reveal more. ‘‘My gut feeling is that they’ll manufacture the car in three, four places.’’ A Tata Motors spokesperson said the company will not comment.

But a year after Maharashtra announced a new mega projects policy with customised incentives and an FDI cell last year—after a critical internal assessment—it’s yielding healthy figures that Deshmukh, facing flak for power shortages, farmers’ suicides to delayed infrastructure projects, is expected to reveal soon.

... contd.