Undaunted by the opposition to acquisition of a gricultural land at Singur for Tata's automobile plant that would produce the Nano, the West Bengal government has told the Supreme Court that the Singur venture would lead to rapid industrialisation of the state.
"The state government thinks that the implementation of the project at Singur will play a pivotal role with regard to developments in the field of modern industry in all respects not only in Singur, but also throughout the state of West Bengal," the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government said.
The state was responding to the SC's notice to it on a petition filed by the Karnataka Landless Farmers Association, which was complaining against the states' recent policy to increasingly target agricultural land for setting up industries and SEZs. The West Bengal government refuted allegations that 645.67 acres of land had been leased out to Tatas at throwaway prices and said: "The government has the power to form any policy and/or to exempt from paying various claims for the sake of greater interest of the state."
The association had alleged that soon 43,000 more acres of land would be acquired for two dozen companies of an available 2.25 lakh arable and arid land. Rejecting this, the state said: "Though a few thousand acres of lands are under examination for setting up industrial units in different districts, out of which a major portion of land is not fit for cultivation or not at all fertile."
