Introduction to International Politics

Foreign Event Analysis

Locale[]
India
Title
Tata Pulls Out of Nano Plant
Summary
Indian car producer Tata abandoned its Nano plant in West Bengal Friday, citing protests from farmers whose land was bought to build the plant upon. Tata Group chief Ratan Tata said in Calcutta, “we cannot run a plant with police around all the time.” Indian Congress blamed the pull-out on the leftists, calling them Communists. Ratan Tata said his company hoped to be able to install plants in West Bengal in the future but for now, the plant would be abandoned. Additionally, the August opening was already delayed more than a month by protests.
Analysis
The Congress calling the left-leaning ruling party of West Bengal “communist” was a strike at them, citing their inability to “strike a balance between growth and equitable distribution of state resources among the common people.” Congress pointed out that the lack of balance and trying to be too independent was the reason for Tata Group’s abandonment of a plant in West Bengal that could bring many jobs to a mostly agrarian area. This is inherently liberal, the assumption that lack of interdependence causes a breakdown in cooperation.
The criticism continued with Congress accusing the Left of being against progress and development. Mr. Tata was in agreement Friday, when he said that the West Bengal government would not allow enough land for the plant, and consequently the Tata Group pulled out after facing “much aggression,” from the Left. This is liberal because a failure of the institutions, in this case the government of West Bengal and the Tata Group, to communicate effectively. Thus the Tata Group became fed up and decided to shutter their plant before it even produced a single Nano, the world’s cheapest car that Tata had hoped to introduce later this month.
Perspectivel
Liberal
In-Region URL
Out-of-Region URL
Submitted
October 3, 2008 at 11:56 am