Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
Jharkhand renews Tata lease for Jamshedpur
Thursday, 03 July 2003, 19:30 IST
RANCHI: The 96-year-old relationship between the Tatas and Jamshedpur, Jharkhand's steel town, has just got a fresh lease of life. Literally.
Chief Minister Arjun Munda ended an eight-year stalemate with the Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (TISCO) by agreeing to extend the lease to the company. The lease had been pending since 1995 when Jamshedpur was still a part of Bihar.
Munda said after a meeting with TISCO managing director B. Muthurama: "Most of the schedules of lease have been finalised except a few. In one month, everything will be finalised."
Muthurama welcomed the decision wholeheartedly: "It is a historic decision of the state government. This will promote investment in the state."
In turn, Tata steel would invest 
100 billion in the state, particularly in Jamshedpur, in the next 10 years.
For the Munda government, the announcement could not have come at a better time.
The chief minister told IANS: "We want industrialisation. My main motto is to promote investment in the state." He pointed out that Jharkhand had received only a pittance in investment as compared to other states like Maharashtra.
Of course, there are other problems that still need to be ironed out.
The most vexing of these is the 4,000 acres of land lying vacant, which the Tatas reportedly subleased without the state government's permission, violating all rules, said an official.
The government has reportedly asked the Tatas to pay 1.37 billion as penalty for subletting the land without permission.
And while that point is still being worked out, the Bihar government has stepped in for its share of the money.
Raising the issue before the Jharkhand High Court, Bihar government's lawyer A. Allam said: "The Jharkhand government should give the amount due till November 14, 2000, a day before Jharkhand was carved. Tata had stopped paying the lease amount to Bihar after 1995 when its lease ended."
Bihar is claiming 66 percent of the share - for four years from 1996 till 2000.
But the Jharkhand government doesn't seem to be in a mood to oblige. Said Building and Construction Minister Raghubar Das: "We will not give a single penny to Bihar. They kept the matter unresolved for more than four years. They are demanding their share when the issue has been settled."
Source: IANS
100 billion in the state, particularly in Jamshedpur, in the next 10 years.
For the Munda government, the announcement could not have come at a better time.
The chief minister told IANS: "We want industrialisation. My main motto is to promote investment in the state." He pointed out that Jharkhand had received only a pittance in investment as compared to other states like Maharashtra.
Of course, there are other problems that still need to be ironed out.
The most vexing of these is the 4,000 acres of land lying vacant, which the Tatas reportedly subleased without the state government's permission, violating all rules, said an official.
The government has reportedly asked the Tatas to pay 1.37 billion as penalty for subletting the land without permission.
And while that point is still being worked out, the Bihar government has stepped in for its share of the money.
Raising the issue before the Jharkhand High Court, Bihar government's lawyer A. Allam said: "The Jharkhand government should give the amount due till November 14, 2000, a day before Jharkhand was carved. Tata had stopped paying the lease amount to Bihar after 1995 when its lease ended."
Bihar is claiming 66 percent of the share - for four years from 1996 till 2000.
But the Jharkhand government doesn't seem to be in a mood to oblige. Said Building and Construction Minister Raghubar Das: "We will not give a single penny to Bihar. They kept the matter unresolved for more than four years. They are demanding their share when the issue has been settled."
Source: IANS