Farmers in eastern India who have blocked construction work at a Tata Motors car plant said they were suspending their protest after the government promised to return some land, officials said on Sunday, according to Reuters. A dispute over land given to Tata Motors in communist-run West Bengal state forced India's top vehicle maker to suspend work late last week at the plant where it planned to build the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car. On Sunday, the governor of India's communist-ruled West Bengal state said a committee would work out the modalities of returning land in a week's time. "The government has taken the decision to respond to the demand of those farmers who have not received compensation," Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the governor said after meeting the chief minister and opposition leaders. A Tata Motors spokesperson said they would not immediately comment on the outcome of the talks. Trouble began after the government took over 1,000 acres of farmland for the factory last year. The government offered compensation but some farmers rejected it, demanding that at least 400 acres of land be given back to them. The protests also reflected a larger standoff between industry in India and farmers unwilling to part with land in a country where two-thirds of a population of more than one billion people depend on agriculture.
