Banerjee renews offer for joint venture on Singur land

SINGUR - A day after Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) declined the West Bengal government’s proposal for a power plant on the land abandoned by the Tata Motors in Singur, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday renewed her offer for a rail coach factory in a joint venture there.

“We are ready to set up the coach factory on the land in Singur after leaving out 400 acres for farmers who did not willingly give their land for the Tata Nano project,” Banerjee, also the chief of state’s main opposition Trinamool Congress, said at a railway programme in Hooghly district, about 40 km from Kolkata.

“We are ready for a joint venture project with the state government. The state can give the land, we can set up the factory,” Banerjee said at the function where she laid the foundation stone for a perishable cargo centre under the Kisan Vision project.

The 997.11 acre former site of the Tata Motors’ small car Nano project has been the centrepiece of dramatic developments of late with the state’s political parties vying with one another for bringing up an industrial venture on it.

Following a state government initiative, senior BHEL officials had Nov 12 inspected the land - still in possession of Tata Motors - to consider setting up a 1600 MW power generation plant.

Only a day later, Banerjee went to the media proposing to set up the “world’s biggest” rail coach factory jointly with the state government on the plot, but after returning the 400 acres to “unwilling” farmers.

Upbeat after the BHEL officials’ inspection, state Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen had said if the central PSU selected the land, the state government would acquire it from the auto major.

However, the state government’s bid to rope in BHEL received a rude jolt Saturday when the power major turned down the proposal, describing the project as “not feasible” and “not viable” on technical, commercial and environmental grounds.

Following a sustained agitation spearheaded by Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress for the return of 400 acres acquired for the project, Tata Motors had shifted the Nano car plant out of the state to Gujarat’s Sanand last year.