Nov. 6 – Even as the dust settles on what would have been the Tata Nano plant in Singur, the West Bengal government reportedly offered the land to First Automobile Works Limited (FAW), a Chinese automobile manufacturer. Reports by the Hindu said a 12-member delegation from Chinese automobile company FAW Group Corporation met West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen expressing interest in setting up a joint venture automobile unit on about 600 acres – about the same size that is ‘undisputed’ in Singur — to set up a small car factory in Bengal.

The company has asked for 600 acres of land and the state government is considering to display the 645 acres of Singur land, where Tata Motors Limited was supposed to set up its mother plant. The state government has leased out 997 acres of land to the Tata Motors Limited, out of which 645 acres was reserved for the mother plant and rest for vendors park for automobile parts, live mint reported.

China’s First Automobile Works (FAW), in collaboration with Ural India, an Indo-Russian joint venture, wants to set up a Rs 1,500-crore automobile manufacturing unit in Bengal. And, the first vehicle to roll out of the plant in 2010 will most likely be a small car priced at a cool Rs 1.6 lakh, the Times of India reported. A tie-up between Ural India, in which the state government has 11%, and FAW will be formalized through an MoU in the first phase.