Click to play videoKolkata: Tata Motors calls its one-lakh car the crown jewel, and it probably means as much for Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as well.
He believes it would create thousands of jobs and its economic multipliers are huge. And so, the state is offering Tata Motors a dream deal for setting up its small car factory in Singur.
"Natural tendency of an automobile industry is to go to a cluster, that's the natural. So we are trying to push this thing against the tide. So we have not finalised the lease terms, we are negotiating it – it's part of the incentive package. But it will certainly not be the normal thing that the land reforms department does. It will be on much more lenient terms," said Department of Commerce and Industries, government of West Bengal Principal Secretary Sabyasachi Sen.
The government hasn't made a formal announcement yet, but it has promised generous tax sops for the project.
It is understood that the 997-acre plot in Singur would be leased out for 99 years for an up front fee of Rs 100 crore, and it would ask for a rent of around Rs 10 lakh a month.
Considering the fact that plot cost over Rs 130 crore, 100 crore isn't a big price at all.
But partners of the ruling CPIM aren't entirely happy. The CPI, for instance, is criticising the Bengal government for lack of transparency.
"Singur, I think, there has been mishandling... lack of transparency. The Left Front government should have been more cautious and should have taken the people and constituent of the Left Front into confidence before taking any action," said Communist Party of India National Council Secretary Shameem Faize.
Partners and Opposition parties might be crying foul over farmland acquisition in Singur, but the Bengal government is giving final touches to the lease agreement and it is expected to be signed within a couple of weeks.
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