Planning commission official Arun Maira defends West Bengal’s land acquisition policy

NEW DELHI: As the Tatas moved the High Court today against Bengal’s Singur land repossession Act, a planning commission official supported the land acquisition policy proposed by the West Bengal government.

"Jindals have put up factories in WB and they did not have any problem. If Jindals have found enough land in WB why could not Tatas,” planning commission member Arun Maira said at an event on National Manufacturing Policy by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

The statement coincides with the visit of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the planning commission in Delhi to discuss the annual state plan allocation.

"It is a question of what sort of land is being acquired and by what process. Industry does not need very large tracts of land...just few kilo meters away from Singur there was land that was not crop land,” added Maira.

In 2007 the Left Front government under previous chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had allotted 997 acres of land for Tata Motor’s proposed Nano plant on a 99- year lease. However due to protests by local farmers and Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress the Tata’s had to shelve the plan and shift it to Gujarat.

As the first move as the Chief minister of Bengal , Banerjee scrapped the allocation of 400 acres of land to Tatas and the land is set to be returned back to the farmers.