The West Bengal Government on Thursday issued an Ordinance to reclaim 400 acres of land from Tata Motors' now abandoned small car plant at Singur. The 400 acres would be returned to the farmers, who had all along been unwilling to part with their holdings, the Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, said.
The Chief Minister said the Ordinance was signed by the Governor, Mr M. K. Narayanan. It will be placed before the State Assembly in the next session. The previous Left Front government had handed over nearly 1,000 acres of farmland for setting up the Tata Nano small car project in Singur.
Ms Banerjee said: “An Ordinance has been issued. We are acquiring 400 acres from Tatas. The land will be returned to farmers, the original owners”. She, however, added that the Tatas were free to use the remaining 600 acres for industrial purposes.
The Tata group did not immediately take a position on the issue. An official response from the Group said: “We are not aware of such a development, and we do not want to make any comment unless we have studied the Ordinance.”