West Bengal Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said on March 28 that the Left Front government had at no stage forcibly acquired land for setting up industries in the state. Despite disruptive and motivated agitation by the Trinamool Congress at Singur the government since then could acquire about 8000 acres of land for industries through peaceful talks and negotiations with landowners, he said.
Claiming that the ruling Left Front government has made impressive progress in industrialization, Sen blamed the agitation by the Opposition that stalled the progress to a greater extent in recent times. Citing instances, the senior CPI(M) leader pointed out that development of Haldia, including expansion of the HPL in particular, had been stalled because of such agitation. “In their tirade against the ruling Left Front, the Opposition Trinamool in the state is virtually working against the people,” Sen said.
Reiterating that the overall progress on industrialization in West Bengal was good with an investment of about Rs.35,500 crore for setting up 1303 big and medium units, the Industries Minister said development was equally good in micro and small sectors. In power sector alone, there was an investment oRs 26,000 crore in last five years, while exports in IT sector has escalated from Rs 2,700 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 6,500 crore at present.
Defending Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Sen insisted that government intervention in acquisition of land for big industries was necessary. Ruling out returning acquired land to willing farmers and hand over the rest of the plot to the railways for its project as requested, Sen said there was no law in the country for returning acquired land.
The Industries Minister said the Left Front government would always encourage investors to negotiate with farmers directly and get land to set up their units.
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