Singur whiff in Boeing miss

Calcutta: A joint team from top US companies has scrapped Calcutta from its India itinerary apparently because of the Singur standoff, denting the state’s longstanding hopes of an investment by Boeing.
Boeing officials are part of an India tour by the US-India Business Council (USIBC) from September 21 to 25, but today the council said it was cancelling the September 21-22 Calcutta leg.
The council — formed by top US and Indian companies to facilitate two-way investment and trade — officially explained that it needed to spend more time in Delhi.
However, sources said the council had informed the US consulate in Calcutta that it was avoiding the city because of the state of affairs prevailing around the Singur stalemate.
Had the US team visited Calcutta, state officials would have had an opportunity to talk to Boeing executives about a possible ancillary in Bengal for the aviation giant’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Nagpur.
A Boeing MRO in Bengal had been high on chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s wish list, but the state had lost out to Nagpur, where the company has invested $118 million, creating 3,000 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs.
18/09/08 Sohini Mookerjea/The Telegraph

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Categories: Foreign Sep 2008