WB should be judicious with land policy: Nath

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today asked the West Bengal Government to "judiciously" address the issue of land acquisition for industrial projects in the wake of the recent protests in Singur and Nandigram.

"If the land acquisition policy has to be judiciously implemented, then the state government must address the issue," Nath said on the sidelines of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conclave.

However, he said the agitation in the state was not related to special economic zones (SEZ). He made it clear that the protests in West Bengal would not come in the way of the UPA government's programme to step up industrialisation and make India as a global manufacturing hub.

"You cannot say that just because people are violating traffic lights, you should stop production of cars," Nath said.

In his address at the conclave earlier, Nath said the government was committed to making India a hub for the global industry and take the share of manufacturing from the present 17% to 25% of the GDP in the next few years.

West Bengal has witnessed protests by farmers and political leaders, including Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, against acquisition of land for a Tata project at Singur and a SEZ at Nandigram.