Prime Minister Narendra Modi's close friendship with former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata began two decades ago over a controversial issue: Tata's plan to start a manufacturing plant in West Bengal's Singur.
The idea to set up a manufacturing plant in Hoogly district's Singur did not go as planned for Tata Motors when protests boiled over land acquisition in 2006. Farmers alleged that West Bengal's then-left government moved to forcibly take over the land. One of the signs put up by protesters read: "Atta not Tata". The protest was so intense that Tata had to abandon the plant after completing over 85 per cent of the work.
In 2008, after two-year-long protests, a disappointed Tata Group announced at a press conference that it was dropping the Singur plant plan.
That's when Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, came into the picture. He sent a one-sentence SMS to Ratan Tata, which read 'Suswagatam' (meaning 'welcome' in Sanskrit).
The message was so instrumental in Gujarat's entrepreneurial bond with Tata that Modi famously said while rolling out the first Nano car: "When Ratan Tata said in a press conference in Kolkata that they are leaving West Bengal, I sent him a short SMS saying welcome to Gujarat. And now you can see what a Re 1 (worth) SMS can do."
When Ratan Tata shared his personal bond with Narendra Modi—a relationship rooted in friendship, mutual respect, and a shared vision. #RatanTata pic.twitter.com/uTkCPfGGZe
— Modi Story (@themodistory) October 10, 2024
Ratan Tata, in a later interview, said how Modi took just three days to make a swift offer of 1,100 acres of prime land in Sanand at Rs 3.5 lakh per acre. "He invited me to move the factory to Gujarat, and I said we’d come if we had a home. He [Modi] said I’ll get you the land you want in three days. And then he delivered that on the third morning. He said, 'Ratanji, here’s the land that I promised. That does not happen in India".
He was all praise for Gujarat while launching the first Nano car. "When I came here first on an industry visit, invited by the Gujarat chief Minister, I was told that if it (the Nano plant) is not in Gujarat, I will be stupid. I am no longer stupid after investing in the plant in Gujarat," Tata said.
The plant which once manufactured the Nano model now produces the Tiago and Tigor models.
Ratan Tata has been a vocal supporter of Modi, stating he always believed in Modi's promise to offer the people a new India.