Gadkari pitches for investments from Tata Group in Nagpur

Nitin Gadkari, in a letter to Tata Sons chariman, says group companies engaged in businesses like steel, auto, consumer products, IT services and aviation can choose to invest in Nagpur

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has sought investments from the Tata Group in and around Nagpur, citing strengths like infrastructure, land availability and connectivity in his home city.

In a letter to Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran on October 7, Mr. Gadkari, who handles the road transport and highways portfolio, said group companies engaged in businesses like steel, auto, consumer products, IT services and aviation can choose to invest in Nagpur.

Comment | Maharashtra’s loss is Gujarat’s gain

The letter shared with the media on October 29 comes amid Maharashtra losing several big-ticket projects to neighbouring Gujarat, like the over ₹1.5 lakh crore investment from Foxconn-Vedanta on chip manufacturing and the ₹22,000 crore aircraft manufacturing project where the Tata Group has tied up with Airbus.

At a recent event, Mr. Chandrasekaran had said the Tata Group is exploring investments in electronics, renewable energy, electric vehicles and other modern sectors, and is engaged with the newly-formed State Government under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for the same.

In the letter, Mr. Gadkari said there are over 3,000 acres of land in the Multi-modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) SEZ and non-SEZ area, and added that already a lot of companies have set base in the vicinity.

“All Tata Group companies like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consumer Products, Voltas, Titan Industries, Big Basket may enjoy the strengths of Nagpur like overnight connectivity with 350 districts of six States, lower rates of land, manpower and warehousing,” the Minister said in the letter.