Mamata Banerjee meets Tata Group chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Published 12 August 2026 · politics

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with the Tata Group chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Wednesday (July 9, 2025), stating that this can help deepen

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with the Tata Group chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Wednesday (July 9, 2025), stating that this can help deepen the group’s presence in the State. This marks a significant development following the long, turbulent relations between the two entities, which culminated in the Tata Nano car factory relocating from the State in 2008. This comes almost 17 years after the Tata Group’s then-chairperson, Ratan Tata, decided to move the factory out of Singur amid widespread and prolonged protests over a land dispute in the area. The agitation arose when a large section of local farmers opposed the alleged forcible acquisition of their agricultural land for the factory, arguing that the compensation offered was inadequate and that many were unwilling to give up fertile, multi-crop land that was their primary source of livelihood.

The Trinamool Congress’s official handle on X shared a video of the meeting between the Tata Group official and Ms. Banerjee, held in the presence of Chief Secretary Manoj Pant. “Their conversation centred on deepening the Tata Group’s presence in the State, underscoring Bengal’s emergence as a preferred destination for forward-looking industry leaders,” the statement from Trinamool further said. Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran to step down in February 2027 On October 3, 2008, under pressure from relentless protests, Ratan Tata announced the decision to withdraw from the plan to set up a small car factory at Singur in West Bengal’s Hooghly district.

The movement was a major milestone in Mamata Banerjee’s political career and became a significant factor in her victory in the subsequent State Assembly election against the 34-year Communist Party of India (Marxist) government in West Bengal. In 2011, when Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress defeated the Left Front, Ms. Banerjee announced in her first media interaction that the land parcels acquired from farmers for the car factory at Singur would be returned to them. The 997-acre land was handed over to farmers in 2016 after the Supreme Court declared the land acquisition illegal. The CM also met with Vietnam Ambassador to India, Nguyen Thanh Hai, on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties.

There has also been an effort to push for better trade and commerce ties between Vietnam and West Bengal. These meetings come as an effort to boost business in the State ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.