Ratan Tata to meet Nirupam Sen on Singur issue

Tata Sons chairman, Ratan Tata, is likely to discuss the Singur issue with West Bengal commerce and industry minister, Nirupam Sen, tomorrow.

Nirupam Sen confirmed that he would meet Tata tomorrow. Ratan Tata is in the city to chair the Tata Tea annual general meeting (AGM).

At the recent Tata Motors’ annual general meeting, Ratan Tata said that he could return to Singur if the situation improved. Tata Motors has renewed the lease for the year and so have most of the vendors.

Last year, on the sidelines of the Tata Tea AGM, Tata had threatened to pull out from Singur, which became a reality in October 2008 after the indefinite dharna led by Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerjee who is now the railway minister.

Banerjee’s main demand was that “400 acres” would have to be returned to unwilling farmers. However, according to state government estimates, unwilling farmers that account for less than 20 per cent of the total number of land losers have 181 acres. Of the total area of 997 acres, the mother plant required around 650 acres while the vendor park was spread over 290 acres.

Banerjee demanded that the vendor park would have to be relocated while Tata Motors and the state government maintained that the integrated nature of the project could not be changed.The Railway minister recently said at the flag-off of Andolan Local — an all-stop train between Singur and Howrah — that she had requested the central government to allow the railways to set up a wagon factory on the undisputed 600 acres.

That could be a far cry, legally. State government sources said, if the land was returned then the government could either use it for some other public purpose or auction it.