“With the making of the final arbitral award, the arbitral proceedings have come to an end,” Tata Motors said in a customary filing with stock exchanges, referring to its dispute with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corp (WBIDC). A three-member tribunal unanimously awarded Tata Motors a compensation of Rs765.78 crore, with interest thereon at 11% per annum from September 1, 2016, until the actual recovery, in lieu of the capital investments made at the site by the company.
The tribunal announced its ruling Monday, Tata Motors said in the statement.
The plant, located at Singur in Hooghly district near Calcutta, became the focal point of West Bengal’s electoral politics toward the tail end of the 34-year administration of the Left Front, which carried the blame for militant unionism and the state’s industrial decline under its watch. The leitmotif of a seemingly reformed Left’s commitment toward industrialization, the Nano plant instead became the rallying point for the Opposition, then led by incumbent chief minister Mamata Banerjee, that alleged the rights of farmers had been compromised by the state while allocating four-crop land for the factory.
Tata Motors initiated construction of the plant dedicated to the small-car Nano on January 21, 2007 – within a year after the election of the last Left Front government. On October 3, 2008, Tata Motors announced it was pulling out of Singur due to the political unrest and farmer-group agitations over land acquisition.
The company later shifted the production of the Nano to Sanand in Gujarat. The arbitration award follows the dispute between Tata Motors and WBIDC. It pertained to Tata Motors’ claim for compensation from WBIDC, covering various aspects of capital investments. These investments were related to the automobile manufacturing facility in Singur.