Opening a new chapter in industry-government ‘bonhomie’, the Sajjan Jindal group has agreed to return to farmers the land acquired from them for the integrated steel project it had proposed to set up at Salboni in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipore district.
Announcing this, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the Jindals were doing it as a “token of respect to the farmers who had given their land.” The development is sure to be contrasted with Singur where there is a deadlock over return of 400 acres of land to farmers. “I will not be able to sleep easy till I get back the land,” she had said about Singur, making the return of land from the Tatas a top agenda of her government since she came to power in May 2011.
Ms Banerjee said return of land at Salboni was the first step. In the second step, they will decide on what to do with the balance land vested with the government.
She further stated that the company has not been able to keep its promise of giving shares to land-losers as the project did not fructify. The Jindals have announced that they were putting the project on hold as it was not a feasible one. They said they had neither the iron ore linkage nor the coal blocks (whose allocations were cancelled following the apex court order).
The foundation stone for the Rs 35,000-crore project was laid on November 2, 2008 in the presence of former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Apart from the nearly 4000 acres given to the Jindals from vested land, the group also directly acquired 294 acres from farmers at Rs 3 lakh per acre. The land would be returned free and a committee has been set up under the District Magistrate. An official at Jindal Steel Ltd said there was no timeline on returning the land.
