Calcutta High Court’s guidelines on Wednesday for compensation to Tata Motors in the Singur land case can make a major dent in the state exchequer, which is already in a precarious condition.
The earlier Left government in the state, while acquiring the land by invoking the Land Acquisition Act, had to factor in the market value of the land prior to the notification. In fact, it had paid an extra 30 per cent solatium and 12 per cent additional compensation as laid down in the rules.
“For compensation to Tata Motors,” a legal expert said, “the market value of the land at the time of enacting the Singur Act will have to be considered.” Land prices at the Singur are currently hovering at around Rs 90 lakh an acre.
The government had, during the hearing, raised objections to the market value being factored in determining the compensation. In its petition, Tata Motors had put its losses at Rs 1,400 crore.
“The petitioners’ losses are around Rs 1,400 crore. This figure includes the investment on the ground that is sought to be taken over by the government and various costs and losses such as, value of land rights and goodwill, transportation, mothballing the enture plant which needed about more than 3,300 large trucks to carry the materials, the rehabilitation and resettlement of various vendors, cost of retaining the land till date and the security thereof as compensation,” the petition said.
At the time of pullout, Tata Motors in early October 2008 had already invested Rs 440 crore in sheds and infrastructure that could not be shifted. Moreover, maintain the structure at the site cost the company about Rs 1 crore a month. This was in addition to the investment of about Rs 171 crore inclusive of Rs 40 crore of land premium charges paid by the vendors who were to supply ancillary parts to the mother plant of the company at Singur.