December 16, 2014
Jindal group to return Salboni land to farmers
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the Jindal group has decided to return the 294 acres of land in Salboni purchased directly from farmers for the project.
“The Jindal Group has communicated to Finance Minister Amit Mitra that it desires to hand over the land acquired from the farmers. It said it would not take back the money given to the farmers while acquiring the land,” she told reporters.
The Chief Minister said that since the plant was not coming up, the farmers who gave their land sought its return.
“The major part of the land of the proposed project which was taken by the company from the government is still with them. We will see what they do with it in future,” she said.
The Chief Minister said a committee headed by the district magistrate would be formed to work out the procedure for returning the land to the farmers.
Describing Jindal’s decision to return the land to the farmers as a “bold” move, she said, “We have been talking of the same thing in respect of Singur.”
