Narendra Modi seeks to distance himself from Maruti strife

New Delhi - Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has sought to distance himself from the outbreak of violence at Maruti Suzuki's factory in Haryana, putting to rest all talk that he would try to persuade the company to shift its entire operations to his state.

Addressing a seminar organised by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Modi said there is no question of shifting the factory from Manesar to Gujarat. "The company's proposal to set up its second plant in Gujarat (at Mehsana) is a standalone decision. Gujarat government wishes that every state should develop industrially."

Modi, in Japan on a five-day visit, is due to meet senior officials of Suzuki, including chairman Osamu Suzuki and the head of the Indian unit Shinzo Nakanishi at the carmaker's headquarters in Hamamatsu on Wednesday.

A person familiar with Modi's travel plans had told ET that the unrest at Manesar, where workers attacked managers and set fire to property last Wednesday, had opened a "Sanand kind of situation" for Gujarat and Modi will persuade the officials to shift the entire operations of Maruti to his state.

In October 2008, Modi famously convinced Tata Group boss Ratan Tata to shift a factory to build low-cost car Nano to Sanand in Gujarat from Singure in WestBengal after a two-year-long agitation by farmers over land compensation.

But a day after the ET report, Maruti chairman RC Bhargava ruled out moving to any other location and said Manesar along with Gurgaon will remain its manufacturing hub. "All the rumours of Maruti moving out of Manesar are absolute fiction. We are not moving the plant out of Manesar and plan to restart the plant once the investigations are over and we have complete confidence in employee safety," he said.

Bhargava said Modi's visit would expedite Maruti's entry into Gujarat and the state is part of its strategy to expand and not shift out of Haryana.

In Tokyo, Modi said human safety and industrial peace are of paramount importance for development, adding that the Haryana government is capable of solving the dispute.

Yet, he did not miss the opportunity to stack Haryana's troubles against his state's 'achievements'. He said it has been Gujarat's endeavor to attain 'zero level man-days loss' and solve dispute between industry and labour through consensus and arbitration.