Kolkata, Nov 5 West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday announced preliminary talks with Ashok Leyland for setting up a heavy vehicle manufacturing unit in Singur, seeking to turn the site of the Tata Nano project’s controversial exit into a symbol of industrial revival.
The announcement puts Singur, where the withdrawal of the Nano project nearly two decades ago became a defining moment in Bengal’s political and industrial history, back in the spotlight.
The BJP government seeks to demonstrate that the state can attract large-scale manufacturing investment without repeating the contentious land acquisition process.
“We will certainly do something in Singur. We have held preliminary talks with a reputed commercial heavy vehicle manufacturer, Ashok Leyland,” Adhikari said while unveiling the state’s new investment promotion policy in New Town.
The chief minister, however, cautioned against rushing into announcements, saying his government would not sign memorandums of understanding merely to generate publicity but would focus on projects that could be implemented.
Adhikari also sought to address the controversy surrounding the Nano project, promising that industrialisation in Singur would not involve coercive land acquisition.
“There will be no firing on farmers during land acquisition for industry,” he said, referring to the violence that marked the forcible land acquisition by the then Left Front government for the Tata Motors plant at Singur.
The proposed project, still at a preliminary stage, could provide the BJP an opportunity to recast Singur from a symbol of industrial retreat into a showcase of its return.
The site has remained politically charged since Tata Motors abandoned its Nano project in 2008 following a prolonged agitation led by Mamata Banerjee, then the opposition leader in Bengal.
The movement against the acquisition of farmland helped Banerjee mobilise opposition to the Left Front government, which had initiated the project under chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee after the 2006 assembly elections.
The withdrawal of the project, which was subsequently shifted to Sanand in Gujarat, became a major setback for the Left Front and a defining political issue ahead of the 2011 assembly elections. Adhikari was in the TMC at that time.
Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress swept to power that year, ending the Left Front’s 34-year rule. Her government subsequently returned the acquired land to unwilling farmers, with Banerjee personally visiting Singur and scattering paddy seeds to symbolise the restoration of agricultural land.
The structure of the abandoned Tata Motors plant was dismantled.
The BJP has since sought to portray the Nano project’s exit as emblematic of Bengal’s failure to retain industrial investment, arguing that the controversy damaged investor confidence and deprived the state of employment opportunities.
Adhikari sought to underline the urgency of industrial revival, claiming that nearly two crore educated youth were unemployed in the state and around 70 lakh workers had left Bengal in search of jobs elsewhere.
He also referred to the proposed Tajpur deep-sea port, claiming that the Adani Group had informed him that the project could not proceed because the previous TMC government did not own even an acre of land at the site.
The chief minister said his government would seek to avoid such obstacles and focus on projects that could be implemented on the ground.
The Singur announcement follows earlier indications by state Industry Minister Tapas Roy that the government had special plans for the area.
Nearly two decades after the Nano factory’s exit, Singur once again finds itself at the centre of Bengal’s industrial debate, with the success of the latest proposal likely to be judged not by announcements but by whether a manufacturing project actually takes shape.
(PTI News)
