The Hindu : National : New project at Singur soon, says Buddhadeb

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 03, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

New project at Singur soon, says Buddhadeb

Indrani Dutta

Salboni (WEST BENGAL): The State government will soon announce a new project at Singur, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said at a press conference here after a ceremony to inaugurate the first phase of a 10 million tonne steel plant.

“We will let you know when we make a firm decision,” he said. The State government had on hand several proposals, Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

In a buoyant mood after kicking off the State’s biggest industrial project, he said Singur was an exception and factories were coming up in different parts of the State. “The Tatas will return the land whenever we ask them to do so,” he said.

Asked whether there were lessons to be learnt from Singur, Mr. Bhattacharjee said he had done nothing wrong in Singur. “I simply wanted to set up an automobile unit there.”

Would a job for every land-loser family have saved the small car project? Mr. Bhattacharjee said it was hardly possible to provide jobs to 12,000 families who had given land for the project. “In Salboni, it is only 137 families [who gave their land for the project to the Jindals].”

Union Minister for Steel, Fertilizers and Chemicals Ram Vilas Paswan said his Ministry had forwarded West Bengal’s proposal for setting up a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Industries Region (PCPIR) project in the State and a high power committee would examine the proposal next week. During the meeting, the proposals of two other States — Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat — were also expected to get the nod and would then be put up for Cabinet approval.

Following the violent protests in Nandigram in East Medinipur district in 2007, the State government relocated the project to Nayachar island and identified 2500 hectares for it.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National