Asked where he planned to shift the Nano plant, Tata said that the company had offers from several states. “We have just taken this decision to shift today. We have not decided on where to shift. But, hopefully, there are locations with congenial environment. We do not have this kind of agitation either in Pantnagar or elsewhere,” he said.

“We have to shift because of Mamata Banerjee, not because of any other reason created by the government,” he said. “Banerjee publicly said that people of West Bengal decided that you should not be here.”

Asked what transpired at the hour-long meeting today he had with state Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Tata said: “He was distressed. He was very persuasive that we do not move out of Singur. But I had to explain that we cannot run a plant when boundary walls are broken, we cannot run a plant with intimidation, we cannot run a plant with employees being assaulted, we cannot run a plant with police protection. At the end, whatever the loss or cost, we have to move out.”

“He (Bhattacharjee) finally conceded,” Tata said. “The decision to move out was ours. We parted as friends. We will continue to look at West Bengal in our future investment plans even if Nano moves out of Bengal...We believe and respect the trust, faith and confidence in Bhattacharjee’s leadership. It has not diminished. I have assured the CM about future investments in Bengal. We continue to be bullish about what can happen in Bengal,” Tata said.

... contd.