Mamata justifies her action in Singur, says West Bengal is a gold mine for investment

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here today that she was proud of what she did in Singur, after the Supreme Court had asked Tata Motors to return the land to the local farmers.

Tata Motors intended to set up a factory to produce its breakthrough Nano vehicle but ran into trouble with the Mamata Banerjee-led government who supported the farmers of the area using the 1894 Land Acquisition Act. By October 2008, after a meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister, Ratan Tata decided to pull out of the state and move to Narendra Modi's Gujarat to set up the Nano factory.

"No, I do not regret. It is a matter of subjudice, so I cannot comment about it. I will abide by the court verdict. But whatever I have done for Singur, I am proud about it. I am in favour of industry and I am proud of agriculture," Banerjee said here today.

The West Bengal Chief Minister attended the Who's Who of India Inc. event where she urged industrialists to invest in her state.

Pointing out that the number of strikes and bandhs in West Bengal has greatly diminished, Banerjee said the new work culture is one that is highly conducive to investment.

"Bengal is a gold mine. We have come here to urge people to invest in Bengal. We are asking them to invest and assuring to give them land for it," Banerjee said here today.

Banerjee also said that her aim is to bridge industrial and agricultural flourish in West Bengal.

"Industry will also smile and agriculture will also smile, they are like twin sisters," Banerjee added.

The event was attended by 45 chiefs of industries and banks including RIL CMD Mukesh Ambani, MandM CMD Anand Mahindra, Chanda Kochar, MD, ICICI Bank, Uday Kotak, VC MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sajjan Jindal, CMD JSW Steel, Adi Godrej, chaiarman, Godrej Industries, Nitin Paranjpe, MD and CEO Hindustan Unilever, YC Deveshwar, chairman, ITC, Harsh Goenka, chairman RPG Enterprises, Shubhalaxmi Panse, CMD Allahabad Bank, Arup Roy Choudhari, CMD, NTPC, BC Tripathi, CMD GAIL, CS Verema, CMD SAIL.