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New Hope Though Nano’s departure from the state of West Bengal had dashed the hopes of bright future for the left government and the people, but a new ray of hope has shined for the troubled land. According to some news reports, representatives of a Chinese automobile major met the WB Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharaya on Tuesday, October 4 and have expressed their interest to set up a small car project in the state. It has been said that they need 600 acres of land to set up the unit that is equal to the ‘undisputed land’ in Singur. It must be borne in mind that state government had given almost 1000 acres of land to the Tata motors on lease but some farmers wanted their land back which was more than 300 acres.  Because of the violent agitation Tata motors have shifted the Nano plant from Singur to Ahmadabad (Gujarat).

Project Representatives of China’s largest manufacturing company, First Automobile Works (FAW), met the CM and Industries minister Nirupam Sen in the Writers’ Building. They want to invest Rs. 1500 crore in the state to set up a automobile manufacturing unit in the state. They, first will manufacture small cars and later on heavy vehicles, also will be manufactured in the unit. It is being expected that the first vehicle, that will be a small car priced around 1.6 lakh will roll out from the project by 2010. The project will be a joint venture between FAW and Ural India. Ural India is an Indo-Russian joint venture that produces trucks for the Indian military. Company official discussed about sites in Kalyani, Haldia, Kharagpur and Singur. But it is being perceived that Singur will be the hot favorite site as the land there has already been developed.

Process The company needs 600 acres of land and ancillary units will be setup in other parts of the state. If it  chooses Singur to set up the unit then it has the advantage of developed land but problem is that the land has been leased out to Tata Motors. Earlier Tata had said that they will give the Singur land back to the state government. If everything goes well with the proposed project then it will bring a new hope to the people of the state and will also attract foreign investment.