The West Bengal government on Sunday painted a rosy picture of Singur, 40 km from Kolkata, as a big city of the not-too-distant future. This comes after failed attempts to transform into an industrial state from a predominantly agricultural one.

State Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, in his first public address in this area since Tata Motors [Get Quote] chose it as the site of its new car plant in May 2006, said many companies were poised to follow Tata's lead in setting up shop in Singur. There will then be jobs galore in this area, which few outsiders had heard of until Tata set its eyes on it.

Singur was rocked by protests early this year, around the same time that the Nandigram saga was being played out, as farmers refused to part with their land. The Tata project then proceeded under police protection.

The first wave has ostensibly started already. Six nationalised banks, two insurance companies (Tata AIG and Bajaj Allianz) and employment for 4,000 people are being cited as the initial impact of Tata's project � in the nine months since the Bhoomi Puja.

At a rally on industrialisation in West Bengal, Sen said Tata Motors was not just setting up a plant, the company would also develop the area. "We have asked them to set up a training institute in Singur so that even those who have not given land can be trained and employed... Those who have had to shift from agriculture because of increase in the cost of production and unremunerative prices will find employment due to industrialisation in the state."

He also defended acquisition of agricultural land for industrialisation on the ground that the methods had changed, rendering it unviable for most farmers.

However, Sen conceded that there was still some resentment among the people of Singur, though politically motivated.

He pointed out that the situation was different in Purulia, West Medinipur and Bardhaman, where larger projects were coming up. "People have come forward to give land," he said.

Sen, however, qualified that the land being acquired for those projects was largely barren.