Singur Impasse: Tata Motors hardens stance, West Bengal govt. backtracks on truce "deal"

A committee would be set up to oversee the return of land to the farmers within a week, Gandhi had said. On the basis of the committee's report, part of the land that would be returned to the farmers would be carved out from the project site and accordingly, the affected component vendors would be shifted to adjacent regions, the governor had said.

Meanwhile, the vendors were also urged not to go ahead with the construction of their respective facilities.

Though the quantum of the land was not disclosed in the governor's statement, TMC's firebrand leader Mamata Banerjee said the state government had agreed to return about 400 acres of land (300 acres inside the Nano project site and 100 acres outside the site) and request the vendors to move to adjacent land.

However, earlier this week, the state government did a volte-face, saying it never agreed to return the land acquired for the Nano plant to the farmers or relocate the vendors to adjacent land. "There will not be any change in the Tata project nor any relocation of vendors' park," Nirupam Sen, West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister, said.

"The Nano project is an integrated project and the mother plant and the vendors' park are inseparable. Sunday's talk was not a final agreement on land reallocation. The state government has not reached any such consensus on this matter with the opposition during the series of meetings it had with them and even with Banerjee. The main plant and the vendors' park will be in the same plot. After keeping these two intact, the committee that has been formed will look into how much land can be taken out for giving to the unwilling farmers. There was no discussion (with the opposition) on disintegrating the project or relocating it," Sen said.

"We have assured the Tatas again that no land will be taken out of the project area and the state government wants Nano car to roll out from Singur," he added.