By IANS,
Kolkata : Real estate major DLF Ltd could pull out of West Bengal if the state government failed to acquire land soon for its proposed Rs.330-billion project near here, the state urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya said here Monday.
“DLF is pressurizing us to acquire land for them as soon as possible. They have already paid us advance money. The project is already delayed and the company said they might pull out, if this situation continues for long,” Bhattacharya said.
The real estate major planned its project at Dankuni, 20 kilometres from Kolkata.
The Rs.330 billion project, over 4,840 acres in the state, is to come up on a public-private-partnership basis over 10 years. There is also no opposition for the project at the local level as it is expected to open up huge employment opportunities.
“Talks are on for some sort of settlement. We are trying to discuss the land acquisition issue with the local landowners. The future of the project is hanging in uncertainty,” the minister added.
DLF has already paid Rs.2.7 billion to the state government as advance, but only 20 acres have been acquired so far.
This is the second pullout threat the state government has received within a fortnight. The first was from auto major Tata Motors, which is building a factory for the world’s cheapest car at Singur but had to stall work for three consecutive working days following opposition to farmland acquisition for the project.