JOIN USTata ready to return Singur land if govt compensates
“We don’t wish to sit on the land for an indefinite period and we’re willing to co-operate with the state government if any proposal suits us,” Ratan Tata told reporters on the sidelines of Tata Tea’s annual general meeting. The automobile major was compelled to pull its fledgling factory out of Singur in October 2008 in the wake of violent protests by farmers. Tata Motors had by then already sunk in about $ 350 million.
“Right now there are no plans about the Singur land. However, we’re willing to transfer the land to the state government only if they compensate us with the investment we’ve made on the ground,” Tata said.
Tata Motors, which relocated the Nano plant to Sanand in Gujarat, has already begun delivery of the small car, being produced in another factory. Sanand is likely to start production sometime early next year.
Ratan Tata is scheduled to meet West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen on Tuesday to weigh the government’s views on the company stand on the Singur land.
State-owned BHEL has recently expressed interest in building the country’s second “critical” power plant on a 600-acre plot at Singur and talks with the state authorities have progressed fast. Although the state government is loathe to make any announcement on the BHEL project as the Singur land is still vested with the Tatas, meeting between Ratan Tata and Sen is expected to throw a light and subsequently clear the logjam commercial utilisation of that piece of land.