Nano going to Gujarat no loss for us: Khanduri

Uttrakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri claimed that losing the Nano small car project to Gujarat was not a loss for his state as it could not provide 1000-acre land at one place for the project as required by the Tatas.

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Having lost the Nano small car project to Gujarat, Uttrakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri on Tuesday put up a brave face, claiming that it was not a loss for his state as it could not provide 1000-acre land at one place for the project as required by the Tatas.

"We could not have parted with the cultivable land for the project...There are other industries too demanding land in Uttrakhand. We have to keep them in mind too," Kanduri said after laying the foundation stone for a state guest house of Uttarakhand government in New Delhi.

He said the Nano car project going to Gujarat was not a loss for Uttarakhand.

"The over 1000-acre land they required for the plant at one place could not have been given without parting with cultivable land," he explained.

Before Tatas decided to set up the small car plant in Gujarat there were reports that the corporate group may opt for Pantnagar in Uttrakhand - where Tata Ace pick-up trucks are being manufactured - to produce Nano.

The Tatas, however, opted for Gujarat where they got 1100 acres of land in Sanand.

Khanduri claimed development of border areas was essential to ensure that local population is not forced to leave the area for want of employment.

"It is also an essential aspect of national security as it is necessary to have local population in border areas...It is a must for security," he added.

For the inflow of industries into the state, Khanduri credited the 10-year special package announced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003.

To a poser, the Uttrakhand Chief Minister termed as "imaginary" the claim of Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal that special package to states like Uttrakhand had led to a "flight" of industries from Punjab.

"Give us the figures of the industries which have closed shop in other states and have reopened operations in Uttrakhand...New industries have come to our state because of the industrial policies," he claimed.

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