West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday a metro rail coach factory would be built on the erstwhile Nano land of 600 acres in case Tata Motors declined to take possession of the land.
"The Singur problem is almost solved but for a tangle in the high court. We will return 400 acres to farmers who refused to surrender land and still offer the Tatas the use of 600 acres," she said on her first visit to Singur as CM, addressing a public gathering in front of the Nano entrance.
"If the Tatas appear unwilling, a coach factory for metro rail will be built on the 600 acres," Banerjee said on Singur Divas, the day the agitation against the Nano factory started in 2006.
On August 30, Tata group chairman Ratan Tata said in Kolkata the conglomerate would not invest in West Bengal unless it was sure there was no hostility towards it.
In October 2008, Tata Motors withdrew from Singur, citing constant opposition to the factory from Trinamool chief Banerjee.
Earlier, as rail minister, Banerjee had announced a coach factory for metro rail at a spot in Singur. That project is now proposed to be shifted to the Nano factory land.
Banerjee's party colleague Dinesh Trivedi is now railway minister.