Part of Singur goes back to farmers; but Tatas still welcome: Mamata

In one of her first moves after being sworn in on Friday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said 400 acres of land in Singur would be returned to the farmers who were unwilling to part with it in the first place, while the Tatas, who hold a lease on the land, were welcome to use the remaining 600-odd acres to set up an industry.

The cabinet has decided to return 400 acres to unwilling farmers in Singur, Banerjee said in her first media interaction as chief minister.

"I have instructed the chief secretary to prepare the papers for this. If 'Tatababu' (Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata) wants, he can set up his factory on the balance 600 acres - otherwise we will see how to go about it." 

The land, totally measuring 996 acres, is still under lease to the Tatas, and the group is reportedly in the process of renewing the lease agreement with the state government.

The agitations over land acquisition for industry at Singur and Nandigram were spearheaded by Banerjee, and helped her to gain popularity among the people of rural Bengal, leading to a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress (with the Congress Party as minority partner) in the assembly elections, ending 34 years of Left Front rule.

Soon after taking charge of the state in 2006, former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had announced that Tata Motors would set up their small car 'Nano' manufacturing unit in Singur. But the Tatas pulled out in the face of the unrelenting opposition from Banerjee and her party.