Local authorities on Wednesday began surveying to find excess land around the 90%-complete factory for Tata Motors’ Nano car as part of efforts to end protests by farmers unwilling to give up their farmlands.
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Officials in West Bengal state hope to defuse the row over the factory by returning some of the acquired land to farmers while rehabilitating others on new plots, The Economic Times of India reported.
Tata Motors suspended construction and fitting out work after farmers backed by the local opposition party blocked roads leading to the plant and threatened workers. It has threatened to abandon the plant and was not happy with a peace deal brokered over the weekend.
On Tuesday, the Economic Times said Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata had urged the West Bengal government not to take any step that would disturb the existing agreement over the land. Tata was trying to pressurise the state government as any changes in the deal would mean the automaker compensating nearly INR5bn to the vendors.
Tata Motors has been given INR1.5m per acre of land in the Singur facility and an exit would mean the automaker having to compensate suppliers for land returned to the farmers as recommended by the weekend agreement reached between the governor and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.
The state’s communist government and the opposition Trinamool Congress party, representing the farmers, agreed at the weekend on a joint committee that would conduct the survey and return excess land around the plant to farmers.
“We are surveying the area to identify land which can be returned to farmers. We will show the government the plots,” said Rabindranath Bhattacharya, a Trinamool leader on the committee.
But the paper said the move was no guarantee that Tata would begin work at the plant in Singur.
Though with reduced production capacity, Tata could still launch the car, as planned, in October using existing Nano plants.
The Nano factory and its supplier park were being built on about 1,000 acres of land. About 400 acres, earmarked for the suppliers, is under dispute.
But Tata Motors said on Wednesday that separating the supplier park from the main plant would upset the project’s cost calculations, and any alteration in the original arrangement was unacceptable.
“We have clearly mentioned our stand in a letter to the government, there is nothing more to add at the moment,” a Tata Motors spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
The government reportedly said it was in favour of a land-based solution for the farmers but against disturbing the car plant site.
