BY PARWEZ HAFEEZ
KOLKATA

West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said that the first Nano car will roll out in October. Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday reiterated that unless 400 acres of 1,000 acres, was returned to the unwilling farmers, she would not lift the siege of the Tata Motors' small car plant at Singur. The situation is extremely fluid and it is not yet possible to say whether the Tatas will shift the Nano project to some other state.

BY SUBRATA CHATTOPADHYAY
KOLKATA

Apparently rattled by the huge success of Trinamul Congress-led siege of the Tata Motor's site at Singur, the ruling CPI(M) has come up with a plan B formula to offer the belligerent Mamata Banerjee. In its desperate bid to placate Ms Banerjee, the CPI(M) satraps are contemplating the idea of acquiring 400-acres land at an alternative site.

BY DIBYAJYOTI CHAUDHURI
SINGUR
Led by Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, thousands of people on Sunday laid an indefinite siege of the Tata Motos' Nano project site at Singur in Hooghly. Twenty-one dharna platforms were erected along the boundary wall of the factory for what Ms Banerjee described as a "peaceful satyagraha'. Belying apprehensions, there was no incident of vandalism or violence although thousands of angry protesters converged on the site. The exemplary restraint demonstrated by the police also averted a confrontation.

KOLKATA: Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has expressed anxiety in the wake of the call for an indefinite agitation by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee from August 24 demanding return of 400 acres of land which, she alleged, was forcibly acquired from farmers for the Tata car project at Singur.

West Bengal Industries Minister Nirupam Sen called on Mr. Tata here late in the evening on Thursday to discuss the developments.

Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: The Tata Motors authorities have sent a letter to the West Bengal government, stating that they require over 997 acres to set up the automobile manufacturing project and ancillary units in Singur, Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said on Thursday.

The letter was in response to a clarification sought by the government on a letter the company had sent to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on the project.

Ms. Banerjee had highlighted a paragraph in the letter that between 600 and 650 acres was required for the car plant.

LANDING IN TROUBLE
Bs Reporter / Kolkata August 22, 2008, 1:02 IST

In a new twist to the controversy surrounding the 997-acre plot for the Nano car plant of Tata Motors at Singur, 40 km west of Kolkata, the Trinamool Congress (TC) controlled gram panchayat in the area said it would not grant any permission to the plant, like environmental and water-use licences, and also threatened to take action against the company as its factory was blocking the rainwater drainage channel of the entire area.

The Singur plant will require a full 1,000 acres since the ancillary units are an integral part of the small-car project, Tata Motors has clarified to the state government through a letter.

"We had sent a letter to the Tata Motors managing director (Ravi Kant) to find out what exactly they had written to Mamata Banerjee on the land requirement in Singur and its use,' industries minister Nirupam Sen said today.

"He has replied that the small-car plant would need 1,000 acres, and that the vendors or ancillary units are very much part of the project.'

A "worried' Ratan Tata has no intention to pull out of Singur "until and unless forced to do so', the Bengal government said tonight in the first public admission that the car project is not as foregone as was being made out.

"Actually, he is quite worried about the developments in Singur. He did not anticipate this kind of thing to happen for such a project,' industries minister Nirupam Sen said tonight after meeting Ratan Tata at a city hotel.

BY PARWEZ HAFEEZ and DIBYAJYOTI CHAUDHURI

Kolkata,July 31: A day after Tata Motors' managing director Ravikant expressed serious concerns over the continuing disturbances around Nano's plant at Singur and warned that their patience was running out, the state government invited Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for talks. She contemptuously rejected the invitation.

It is the Trinamul Congress-led Save Farmland Committee which has threatened that it would not allow the Tatas to roll out Nano in October as planned.

IN THE run-up to the Tata Nano's October launch, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has decided to step up its rural marketing drive. For starters, it proposes to penetrate the great Indian heartland, reach every taluka and panchayat by unleashing all its leading economy models at attractive prices. The mission is to tap all customers who can afford a car. Small wonder, Maruti is relying heavily on