By IANS
Kolkata : West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen Friday said the verdict of the Calcutta High Court favouring land acquisition at Singur for the Tata Motors’ small car project was a big step in the state’s industrialisation.
Sen said the high court’s judgment – which upheld the land acquisition as legal and with a social purpose – will help uplift the living standards people in Singur in Hooghly district, about 40 km from here.
“People who lost their land for the car factory in Singur will definitely be rehabilitated and compensated properly by the state government. We are still open to discussions with all political parties, organisations or any individual if they think the people of Singur have not got their dues and incurred economic loss,” he said.
Sen said the state government is also ready to sympathetically review cases of local villagers who lost their land to the project.
The division bench of Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh Friday said the acquisition procedure of 997.11 acres of land in Singur for Tata Motors’ small car unit was made following proper methodology and the process was legal.
The high court also dismissed 19 public interest litigations (PILs) against the land acquisition process.
“The state government has already started the economic activity in Singur involving the local villagers. We need cooperation from all sections of people,” Sen said.