Interestingly, state Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty was absent during the inauguration of the expo that has been organised by the Fair and Media group. “We are organising this fair without any monetary help from the state government and I have to admit that even the auto companies have also not been very co-operative in this regard,” said S K Mitra, Co-ordinator Auto Expo 2009.

Nevertheless, some of the major automobile manufacturers in the country like Tata, General Motors, Toyota, Skoda, Mahindra and Mahindra have taken part in the fair which is scheduled to end on March 1.

The expo was inaugurated by state Fire and Emergency Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee. The minister used the occasion to attack the Opposition for “preventing development” of the state.

He said that the departure of Nano from Singur was not only a blow to the state, but also meant job losses for thousands of young people. “Infrastructure worth millions has been left behind in Singur all because of the Opposition’s agitation that forced the Tatas to pull out of the Singur,” Chatterjee said.