Official government resolution on how Gujarat was made "preferred destination" for Tatas

It is a matter of general knowledge that five years ago the Tata Motors was provided huge subsidies to shift its Nano plant from West Bengal to Gujarat, following a meeting between Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and top tycoon Ratan Tata. Ever since then, he has been hardselling Gujarat as the topmost investment destination for India. However, for long the Gujarat government kept a document which allowed the subsidy allowed subsidies a well-guarded secret. Prominent environmentalist Rohit Prajapati has now put the document in public domain:

Sanction of Loan to M/S Tata Motors Ltd. for Nano Car Project

Government of Gujarat, Industries and Mines Department
Resolution No. TMI./10/2008/51/1
Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar
Date:- 1/1/2009

Preamble:

For more than three decades, Gujarat is the preferred destination for investment in almost all industrial sectors, barring a few. As a result of the proactive role of the state government to attract investments, numbers of entrepreneurs / industrial houses are selecting the state as a destination of choice for investments in the sectors of Textile, Gems and Jewellery, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Drugs, Steel, Cement, Engineering among others. However, the state is yet to attract good investment in the Automobile and auto ancillary sector. The auto sector has strong presence in other states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and outskirts of Delhi state, where as Gujarat has only one car project. Though Gujarat has a strong engineering base and a number of engineering units, mainly in the MSME Sector, these are engaged in the supply of auto components.
Tata Group is one of India’s leading industrial houses and enjoys a reputation as a responsible corporate citizen even prior to independence. Tata Motors Limited (TML), which is part of the Tata group, is seeking to relocate some of its operations related to manufacturing plant for automobile products and components for the manufacture of the small car “Nano” from Singur in West Bengal. Given the Tata Group’s relationship with the State of Gujarat, its standing, both nationally and internationally, and the importance accorded to the Project by the industrial community of India, and the public in general, the State Government has come to the conclusion that in the present situation, it is desirable to have the said operations of the company in the State of Gujarat and do whatever is reasonably possible to provide a congenial environment and pro-active support for expeditions implementation of the Project and its operations.
Type of Loan:
Government of Gujarat (GoG) will provide fiscal incentives to TML in the form of a loan to TML at 0.1% simple interest per annum for amounts equal to the gross Value Added Tax (“VAT”) and Central Sales Tex (“CST”) payable to the GoG (or an equivalent Goods and Services Tax (“GAS”) or any other similar law for the levy of tax in Gujarat, on sale and purchase of goods, as and when introduced, on the sale of the Nano car and its parts and components from the date of commencement of the sale of the Nano car.
Quantum of Loan:
i. The maximum loan amount will be equal to: (a) 330% of the “TML Phase I Investment”; or (b) such amount as has been disbursed to TML by the govt. till the 20th year from the date of commencement of the sale of the “Nano”; whichever is lower. However overall amount of the loan shall in no case exceed the gross amount of tax paid to the GoG in the 20 year period under above mentioned laws.
ii. For the avoidance of doubt, it is made absolutely clear that the TML Phase I Investment shall be related only to the development, manufacture and sale of the Nano car, its components and related activities including the items set out in Schedule I.
iii. It will include the expenditure towards power supply i.e. 220 KV connection (having double circuit – feeding from two sources) up to the Project’s receiving station, as well as final power requirement of the Project in the range of 40-50 MVA. The project would require a separate 66 / 11 KV sub-station (having double circuit-feeding). All the above requirements will be made at the expense of TML, which would constitute a part of the TML Phase I investment. Gujarat, on sale and purchase of goods, as and when introduced), on the sale of the Nano car.
Repayment:
This loan will be repayable in monthly installments starting from the first month of 21st year (from the date of drawdown of such loan amount) of the commencement of first sale of the commencement of first sale of the “Nano”. The loan amount availed in the first month of the first year will be repaid in the first month of the 21st year along with interest and the loan amount availed in the second month of the year will be repaid in the second month of the 21st year along with interest and so on. The repayment will be along with the interest amount for that amount of the principal.
This is issued with the concurrence of Finance Department dated 6-12-2008 and dated 24-12-2008 on this department file of even number.

By order and in the name of the Governor of Gujarat.

P H Jagtap
Section Officer
Industries and Mines Department

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Counterview

Search This Blog