TATA Group denies CM’s claim of Rs 10,000 crore shipyard investment in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Tata Group has rejected Chief Minister V D Satheesan's claim that the company had expressed its willingness to invest Rs 10,000 crore in the shipbuilding project in Kerala. The company's explanation is that Tata is not building a shipbuilding plant anywhere in Kerala or elsehwere. The news has been reported by national media quoting top officials of the Tata Group.

The chief minister had said in an interview to an international media the other day that the TATA Group would make a huge investment as part of the state government's flagship project, Mission Samudra. He repeated this in a seminar later. The top official said that he was surprised by what V D Satheesan said and that the TATA Group has no plans to make such a huge investment. The company said that neither the present nor the previous government of Kerala had approached them for the project.

Watched the video of the interview. The reason for V D Satheesan's statement may be that he is not clearly informed about the matter. The TATA Group executive said that while talking to the media, he should not mention and disclose unauthentic things, including the name of the company. However, the Chief Minister or his office have not responded to this after the news broke. Discussions are underway with the Tata Group. VD Satheesan had said in the interview that a decision would be taken within a month.