Bengal invites Mamata's rail coach proposal on Singur site

In yet another twist to the issue at Singur—the erstwhile Tata-Nano project site— the West Bengal government has written to the Railway Board, seeking a formal proposal for the rail coach factory on the site, mooted by Trinamool Congress leader and Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Banerjee, prime opponent of the state government, had earlier led the eventually successful fight to stop the Nano project from coming up at Singur. She had insisted that land taken over from farmers who didn’t want to give it up had to be returned before anything was done on the site. The state government wouldn’t budge and Tata eventually abandoned the site.

West Bengal’s chief secretary, Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, said: “On behalf of the state government, I have written to the Railway Board chairman yesterday, seeking details of the project.” Banerjee first mooted a rail coach factory in June at Singur, soon after becoming the railway minister.

The Railway Board proposal comes on the heels of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) expressing its inability to put up a power project there on technical and viability grounds.