The Hindu Business Line : Singur: Bengal Cabinet seeks opposition help on rehab plan

Kolkata, Sept. 25 The West Bengal Cabinet has appealed to the Opposition in the State to agree and help in the implementation of the rehabilitation plan proposed by the State government for farmers whose land has been acquired for the Tata small car project in Singur. The appeal was made after a meeting of the Cabinet that was held today.

The Cabinet has also requested Tata Motors to refrain from withdrawing the project from West Bengal and assured all help and co-operation in its implementation.

The appeal is seen by industry as a last-ditch attempt by the State government to ensure that the Nano project remains in Singur. With work stalled at the project site for nearly a month and with some vendors beginning to remove construction equipment from the project site, there is increasing speculation that the Tatas will pull out the Nano project from Singur sooner than later.

The State Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, reportedly told his Cabinet colleagues that not much hope remained for the Nano project and the chances of the Nano rolling out of Singur were remote.

West Bengal’s PWD Minister, Mr K. Goswami, told newspersons after the Cabinet meeting that uncertainty continued to prevail over the future of the Tata Nano project in Singur. He said the Tatas had expressed their unwillingness to resume work on the project under security provided by the State government. He said that while the State government had demonstrated a lot of flexibility on the issue, the Opposition had stuck to its demand for return of 300 acres of land from within the project area.

Tata Motors suspended work on the plant on September 2 and said it was considering relocating its plant and machinery to an alternative location. The company had looked at some sites in Karnataka and Gujarat, among others, while the Andhra Pradesh Government has said it is prepared to woo the Nano project to the State.

The Tata Group, in a communication to the Maharashtra Government, conveyed that it was actively considering plans to shift out of Singur as the situation there continued to be uncertain.

Tatas yet to decide on Pantnagar

PTI reports from Dehra Dun: Tata Motors is yet to decide on manufacturing its ultra-cheap passenger car Nano from Pantnagar, the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, Mr I.K. Pande, has said.

“We asked the Tata Motors officials whether they are starting production of Nano from Pantnagar, they (company officials) said no decision has been taken yet,” he told reporters after a meeting here.

His comments come in the midst of uncertainty over the location from where Tatas would roll out the Nano, even as the West Bengal Industry Minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, told the State Cabinet today that there was little possibility of the Tata plant coming up in Singur.

Today’s meeting with Uttarakhand officials was to settle issues related to Tata Motors’ Pantnagar plant, from where the company manufactures the Ace mini-trucks.