The power plant will be built by West Bengal Power Development Corp. Ltd and is likely to have two units generating 800MW each

“The economy of Singur has been ruined by the withdrawal of Tata Motors’ small-car project,” says Abhirup Sarkar, professor of economics at Kolkata’s Indian Statistical Institute

Allotted plots will be handed over only after civic infrastructure is put in place, which may take several years

The Tatas, last year, shifted its Nano car project from Singur to Gujarat due to stiff resistance by opposition parties, putting a question mark on the Left Front government’s industrialization plans

The decision is seen as a blow to industrialization efforts of the Congress party-led govt, whose key allies are blocking reforms like easier acquisition of land and privatization of state-run firms

The government of West Bengal has diligently courted grief

Tata Motors decided to pull the plug on its small-car factory in Singur in West Bengal’s last year due to violent local protests against the forcible seizure of land by the state government

The company was forced to pull out its factory from Singur in West Bengal last October following violent protests by farmers who lost land

Why do some industrial projects face opposition and not others? Mint engages the authors of ‘India Infrastructure Report 2009’ to find out

The company is currently manufacturing the car at its Pantnagar facility, which has an annual capacity of 50,000 units

The Trinamool Congress feels that these legislations fall short of protecting poor farmers as their rehabilitation and resettlement is not fully guaranteed by the provisions

On Thursday, in the first meeting of the state’s cabinet after poll results were announced on 16 May, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee voluntarily withdrew a proposal to acquire 120 acres of farmland in Kharagpur

Voters were surprised by the absence of campaigning by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who had led an agitation for one and a half years against land acquisition

The farmer agitation had helped the party gain political mileage but top leaders aren’t campaigning here now

Punit Mukherjee is upset and anxious about the misfortunes that have befallen his family and couldn’t care less about politics--or voting. He says politicians milked the situation in Nandigram and Singur to gain mileage and have blocked avenues for people to realize the benefits of liberalization