West Bengal’s ruling Left Front has decided to renew the licence of German firm Metro Cash and Carry. The decision came amidst the threats of boycotting the state secretariat by one of the ruling alliance in the state, Forward Bloc.
At a time when the state government is already in a soup on the land issue with Tata Motors in Singur, signalling an imminent pull-out of its small car facility after having suspended operations in the Nano plant since September 2, the decision to renew Metro’s licence becomes special.
However the license for the German major will not be absolute but a qualified one. ‘We have arrived at a unanimous decision that the state Agricultural Marketing Board will renew the licence of Metro Cash and Carry on October 10, but there will be some conditions attached,’ said Left Front chairman Biman Bose.
The govt will hold talks before October 10 to decide the conditions to be imposed on Metro.