Lord Swraj Paul

Calcutta, June 19: Caparo, owned by Lord Swraj Paul, is rooting for the speedy resolution of the Singur imbroglio to firm up its Bengal plan. The company had invested around Rs 200 crore to set up an ancillary unit adjacent to Tata Motors’ Nano plant three years back.

Though Caparo had managed to move out most of the machineries after the Tatas pulled out of the state and relocated to Sanand in Gujarat, it could not salvage the entire investment.

Speaking to The Telegraph from his London office last week, Paul expressed his desire to start afresh in Bengal. “I am very keen on Bengal. I think there is scope for us to grow. But this (Singur) has to be sorted out. It does not make sense to think of anything else without it,” he said.

He was responding to the proposal of the Mamata Banerjee government to compensate Tata Motors alone, while leaving the vendors in the lurch. “I am sure she (Mamata) will make an equitable and just case for all. I am confident that as the leader of the state, she will do everything that is good for Bengal,” he said. Caparo has 32 plants in India employing 9,000 people. However, the state in which Lord Paul started his business career before migrating to the UK is yet to benefit from his investments. The only project he planned for the state — in Singur — went horribly wrong after violent agitations forced out the Tatas.

He did not specifically mention the amount of the sunk cost at Singur. However, Tata Motors in a statement said its vendors had invested Rs 170 crore.

The Singur bill passed by the Bengal Assembly at the behest of chief minister Mamata Banerjee talks about paying back only the lease premium to vendors after deducting the rent if left unpaid.

The vendors were given permissive possession to work on the 290-acre plot allocated by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation. They paid lease premium for the land. Lease agreements were not signed with them because of a case challenging the Singur land acquisition in Calcutta High Court.

The agreement with Tata Motors does mention the payment of compensation, but the absence of any such pact with the vendors has left them on a stickier ground.

Some vendors such as Sona Koyo had threatened to take the state government to court if it is denied compensation for the sunk cost. Paul declined to be drawn into the debate but put faith on the “good judgement” of the “immensely popular” chief minister.