Nagpur: With the political atmosphere in Maharashtra heated up over Tata Group’s proposed Airbus project in Nagpur’s Mihan moving to Gujarat, there is some comforting news for Nagpur. Tata Group is ready to invest in Mihan. Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran has responded to Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari following his letter seeking an appointment for Vidarbha Economic Development (VED) Council members who would brief him on investment opportunities in Vidarbha region for the Tata Group, according to media reports.
Earlier, Gadkari had sent a letter to Chandrasekaran pointing out there is huge investment opportunity at Mihan in Nagpur. Necessary infrastructure for business expansion is available at Mihan. Road, and Rail services are also available. Therefore, various projects like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Titan Industry Voltas Ltd can come to Nagpur, Gadkari had stated in his letter.
In the letter dated October 19, Chandrasekaran says, “Our teams will definitely be in touch with VED members as we evaluate new investment across the group.” He also expressed a wish to meet Gadkari.
On October 7, Gadkari had written to Chandrasekaran that a number of business opportunities can be explored especially in the Mihan project which has land available in both Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and non-SEZ areas. The letter was based on inputs provided by VED. Gadkari’s letter had referred to the business opportunities in general in Nagpur and not related to the Tata-Airbus project which is being set up in Vadodara, Gujarat.
Gadkari’s letter said there is 3,000 acres of land comprising both SEZ and non-SEZ areas. The Tata Group companies can enjoy the advantages of Nagpur like overnight connectivity to 350 districts in six states, lower rates of land, manpower availability and warehousing facility. Air India, Vistara and Air Asia can cut costs by making Nagpur a hub for operations and night parking. Even as Air India already has an MRO in Mihan, considering Tata Group’s foresight, more MROs can be planned here, the Union Minister had pointed out.
