Thaindian News

Kolkata, Oct 29 (IANS) Calling for an “industrial revolution” in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday said the railways have expressed their desire to set up an industrial unit at the now abandoned Tata Motors factory site in Hooghly’s Singur town.

“I had proposed setting up a Metro rail coach factory at Singur to the railway ministry, to which they said they were desirous. I had also got a letter from SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) for using that land. I will be happy if the unit comes up with their joint effort,” Banerjee said at the state secretariat Writers’ Buildings.

She said once the legal formalities are cleared and the 400 acres of the land at the site are returned to the farmers, the unit may come up on the remaining 600 acres.

The automobile major had to shift its Nano small car plant to Gujarat from Singur in 2008, owing to protests by farmers led by the Trinamool Congress that sought the return of 400 acres taken from farmers, who were reportedly unwilling to part with their lands.

Within a month of forming the government in May, Banerjee enacted the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, scrapping the land lease given to Tata Motors by the Left Front regime for the small car plant.

The act was declared to be valid by the Calcutta High Court, paving the way for returning the land to the farmers.

Banerjee also underlined the big-ticket investments lined up for the state.

“TVS group will set up a manufacturing unit at Howrah, SAIL has already injected Rs.20,000 crore in the state, HPCL will invest Rs.1000 crore in Asansol (in Burdwan)…industrial revolution in Bengal will surely happen,” she said.

Banerjee also said she had a talk with union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma for setting up textile hubs in the state.