Bengal agrees to Mamata's proposal for coach unit in Singur

West Bengal government agreed to Mamata Banerjee's proposal for setting up a rail coach factory at the abandoned site of Tata Motors in Singur. Duronto Express trains

By PTI | Dec 08, 2009, 07.00 PM IST

KOLKATA: West Bengal government today agreed to Mamata Banerjee's proposal for setting up a rail coach factory at the abandoned site of Tata Motors in Singur and said it would talk to the Tatas for getting back the land once the Railway minister makes a formal announcement.

"The state government will talk to the Tatas (to get back the land) after the Railways officially make the proposal," Chief secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters here.

Chakraborty said he had written a letter to Railway Board Chairman S S Khurana yesterday in view of the proposal by the Railway minister which was "widely reported in national dailies" on November 30.

The chief secretary said the state government in principle was in favour of handing over the entire 997.11 acre land in Singur, acquired for Tatas small car project, to Railways for setting up the coach manufacturing factory.

The Tatas had decided to shift their small car project from Singur to Gujarat and the state government was now exploring alternative use of the land for development of industry, he said in his letter.

"Now that the Tata Motors Ltd has withdrawn, the state government may advise WBIDC to initiate the process to get the land back as soon as a firm decision was taken by the Railways", he said.

The Chief Secretary noted that Singur, located 50 kms from the city, has all necessary infrastructure for setting up a large industry.

Banerjee had said that she was willing to set up the factory as a joint venture with the West Bengal government if the latter agreed. "In that case, the state government's equity will be the land, while the Railway's equity will be by way of setting up the factory," she had stated.

The state government's move to construct a mega power plant in Singur jointly with the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd did not evoke positive response from the BHEL.

The Singur land was at present with the Tatas. Tata group chairman Ratan Tata had earlier said he did not want to sit on the Singur land and could give it back if the company was compensated for the investment it had made on the ground.

When talks were on for putting up a power plant last month, Industry minister Nirupam Sen had stated, "I don't think there will be any problem to get back the land from the Tata Motors Ltd."

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