Bengal CM ready for talks over Tatas’ Singur project

Kolkata: The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, wrote a letter to the Trinamool Congress Chief, Ms Mamata Banerjee, inviting her for direct talks with him to resolve the problem over land acquisition in Singur for the Tata small car project.

Ms Banerjee, however, has rejected the Chief Minister’s offer for talks and has reiterated her stand that 400 acres of land acquired from “unwilling farmers” must be returned to them first before any meaningful talks in the matter can be held. She has warned that the agitation that began on Sunday could spread beyond Singur if the land was not returned.

Mr Bhattacharjee told newspersons that he was ready to discuss all issues in the matter that may be raised by Ms Banerjee and her party. He said the implementation of the project was crucial to West Bengal and the industrial development of the State. “We are facing a critical situation when many other States have offered the Tatas to shift their small car plant from Singur, which we cannot afford to lose,” he stated.

Mr Bhattacharjee has said that he is willing to discuss the matter and arrive at an amicable solution “keeping intact the entire project and safeguarding the interest of land losers within the legal framework”.

“I hope you will immediately agree to join the discussion by withdrawing your agitation in the interest of the speedy implementation of the project and in the interest of the State’s image,” Mr Bhattacharjee has said.

Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (Eastern Region), Mr Sandipan Chakravortty, Managing Director of Tata Ryerson, expressed hope that the issue would soon be resolved at the political level.

Tata Motors is investing close to Rs 1,500 crore at the Singur plant to produce the Nano. It has allotted about 300 acres for 56 of its suppliers to set up their plant at the site. Tata Motors has said that it will roll out the Nano later this year.
Last week, Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata group, said the company would not hesitate to pull out of Singur if violence against the company persisted at the site.