Farmers in villages adjoining Gujarat's Sanand have welcomed Tatas' decision to relocate the Rs 1 lakh Nano car project and appeared ready to give their land for the construction of approach roads to the site.
After scouting many sites in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the Tatas decided to set up the Nano project at Sanand, near Ahmedabad, where the state government will give it 1,000 acres land from the Anand Agricultural University.
"We welcome the Tatas setting up their Nano car plant in the state. There is no trace of objection from farmers of the villages around the site," Bharatbhai Vaghela, a farmer of Kalana village, which is near the AAU farm, told PTI. "Farmers are even ready to give their land for approach roads to the AAU site," he said, adding that this was good for the area and the state.
"I am glad to make the sacrifice of my land for the Tata project," another farmer-turn-industrialist Ravubhai Vaghela, who holds substantial land in Khoda and Naranpur village from where the approach road to the site is likely to pass, said.
The new project site was finalised on the evening of October 6; a Memorandum of Understanding between the Tatas and the state government will be signed later today.
The site, just 30 kms from city, is ideal for the Tatas as it is closely linked to National Highway 8 that connects to Rajkot and Ahmedabad.
The site is also near the proposed Dholera port which will be set up as part of the industrial development project included in the implementation of Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor, officials said, adding it will help Tata Motors in future to export the car.
It is also near Rajkot, where some of the components for the Nano car plants are prepared by ancillary units, they said. The officials also noted that the local people at Sanand are happy as they think the project will revive the economy of the region.
"The immediate fallout of the project coming to Sanand will be an increase in land prices and it will benefit farmers surrounding the plant a lot," Bharat Vaghela said. The local people also hope to get jobs in the huge plant, he said.
Expectations are also high among the landless labourers of the villages around the site. "We expect to get jobs in the Nano car plant. If the project gives jobs to the landless labourers, then it is very good for the entire area," Hiteshkumar Kedarsinh, a landless labourer working on Virendrasinh Vaghela's land said.
The land which is being offered to Tatas is AAU's farmland which was being used to grow grass. The AAU has already transferred the land to the state government for handing over around 1,000 acres to the Tatas, officials of the university said.