The Trinamool Congress made it public on X, posting: “Mamata Banerjee hosted Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and the Tata Group, for a constructive dialogue on Bengal’s industrial growth and emerging opportunities. The meeting reflected Bengal’s commitment to fostering meaningful public-private partnerships that drive innovation, investment, and inclusive development.”
Chief Secretary Manoj Pant was present too. Officials said the talks mainly focused on investment prospects.
From Singur to Sanand
This new handshake comes with old baggage. In 2006, Tata Motors chose Singur in Hooghly district to build the Nano car. What followed was a massive agitation led by Banerjee, who demanded that 400 acres be returned to unwilling farmers.
Back then, the CPM government under Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee stood firm. Banerjee, then in opposition, did not budge. The protests spread, grabbing headlines far beyond Bengal. In October 2008, then Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata finally called it quits.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called the move “sad.” Meanwhile, then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi grabbed the chance. “When Ratan Tata said in a press conference in Kolkata that they are leaving West Bengal, I sent him a short SMS saying ‘welcome’. And now you can see what a Re 1 (worth) SMS can do,” Modi had said later.The Nano found a new home in Sanand, Gujarat. But the dream faded over time. Nano production ended in 2018.
Promises at the Bengal Global Business Summit
Fast forward to this February. The Bengal Global Business Summit came and went without Chandrasekaran. Banerjee had spoken to him the day before. She told the audience, “He has assured (me) that they want to invest more and more in Bengal. And he will come to Bengal very soon and discuss (things) in detail.”
He has kept that word. On Wednesday, both sides spoke of “emerging opportunities” and new industry. Whether this will finally bring a Tata project back to Bengal is yet to be seen.
A fresh blow for NITI Aayog
The same day, Banerjee trained her guns on NITI Aayog. A summary report meant for West Bengal came with a glaring error — Bihar was marked instead of Bengal on the map.
She did not let it pass. Posting her letter to Vice Chairperson Suman K Bery on X, she wrote: “Here goes my letter today to the Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, New Delhi, expressing my unequivocal disapproval of their grave lapse in mapping West Bengal!”
In her letter, Banerjee called it “an affront to the identity and dignity of the State of West Bengal.” She added: “Such a grave lapse in an official document of a premier national institution is not merely a technical error but an affront to the identity and dignity of the State of West Bengal.”
She did not stop there. Her words were sharp: “Such a blunder in an official publication of NITI Aayog reflects an alarming lack of diligence and respect towards the States of the Union. This raises legitimate concerns about the rigour and reliability of the institution’s work, which policymakers and citizens alike depend upon for accurate and informed decision-making and casts significant doubt on the quality, authenticity and credibility of reports and publications of NITI Aayog.”
She wants a clear apology and steps to ensure it does not happen again.
A leader balancing both
Mamata Banerjee’s political story began with protests over farmland. That very fight sent Tata packing. Now she sits across the table with Tata’s top boss, pitching Bengal as open for business.
Seventeen years is a long time. But the state’s industrial future — and old memories of Singur — still shape today’s headlines. For Banerjee, the message seems clear: Bengal’s doors are open, but its pride stays guarded.
