Tata Motors wins Singur case, entitled to recover Rs 766 crore.
New Delhi: In a major setback for the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Friday, October 30, 2023, ruled in favor of Tata Motors in the Singur land acquisition case. The court ordered the state government to pay Rs 766 crore to Tata Motors as compensation for the losses incurred by the company due to the forcible acquisition of land in Singur in 2006.
In a landmark ruling, a three-member Arbitral Tribunal has ordered the West Bengal government to pay Tata Motors ₹766.78 crore in compensation for the forcible acquisition of land in Singur in 2006. The Singur land acquisition case has been one of the most contentious legal battles in recent Indian history
Tata Motors has said in its statement, “The aforesaid pending arbitral proceedings before a three-member Arbitral Tribunal has now been finally disposed of by a unanimous award in favour of Tata Motors Limited (TML) whereby the claimant (TML) has been held to be entitled to recover from the respondent (WBIDC) a sum of Rs 765.78 crores with interest thereon @ 11% p.a. from September 1, 2016 till actual recovery thereof. The Claimant (TML) has also been held to be entitled to recover from the respondent (WBIDC) a sum of Rs 1 crore towards the cost of the proceedings.”
The West Bengal government allocated about 1,000 acres of farmland to Tata Motors to build a manufacturing plant. However, after stiff protests from political leaders and farmers in the area, the company decided to scrap its plans. By then, Tata Motors had already made investments at the site, which it later shifted to Sanand in Gujarat.
TATA Singur Land Case: History
In 2006, the Left Front government in West Bengal acquired nearly 1,000 acres of land in Singur, Hooghly, to build a manufacturing facility for the Tata Nano. The land was acquired through a process called eminent domain, which allows the government to acquire private property for public purposes.
The land acquisition was opposed by the then opposition leader and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee argued that the land was being acquired forcibly from farmers and that the project would displace thousands of people. She also argued that the project would benefit Tata Motors at the expense of the people of West Bengal.
Banerjee’s opposition to the project led to a mass movement against land acquisition in Singur. The movement was successful in forcing the Tata Motors to shelve the Singur project in 2008. The company eventually moved to Gujarat and set up a plant in Sanand for manufacturing the Tata Nano.
