Their smile could not get any wider when locals knew for sure that Singur's loss had ultimately become Chharodi's gain. But even before the Nano made its grand entry, local farmers had already signed the land transfer papers — much before Tata sealed the big deal in Gandhinagar on Tuesday.

With this, the small village — 25 km from Ahmedabad — has found a place for itself on the world's automotive industry map. Local farmers, many of them Muslims, virtually made a beeline and surrounded GIDC officials on the spot for signing documents to complete the land transfer procedure.

The interaction between villagers and officials had been going on for the last five days. The activity picked up pace with every passing day, and even before the Tatas could land at Ahmedabad on Tuesday afternoon, the GIDC officials were ready with their share of work — the complete paperwork.

Village sarpanch Nazir Pathan, who himself has parted with two acres, appeared the happiest man having liaised between government officials and the village folks. "So what if we are Muslims and our land goes for a project that is going to earn (Narendra) Modi credit… the development will reflect in the growth of our future generations," he said when asked as to what convinced him about the project that his counterparts in Singur have rejected.

Peer Khan, Hayat Khan Pathan and his brother Shamsher offered 18 bighas "for the sake of the overall development of the place" that they hoped would translate into job opportunities for locals. Paddy and wheat are the two crops taken here in two seasons and no one has any qualms about losing the yield of 80 maunds per bigha of wheat and 50 maunds of paddy.

"It is our good fortune that this place has been chosen for this ambitious project. Atleast the future of our coming generations is secure," said Pathan, whose words were endorsed by Kanuji Thakor, a fellow villager. Pathan said the villagers had been assured of jobs by the locals.

However, a few village seniors were a little apprehensive about such oral assurances. "The village panchayat should get the assurance in writing from the private company. Government officials or politicians cannot be trusted on this," said Babubhai Parmar, who had a bitter experience with a Korean multinational that had set up a unit in the vicinity.

He said the Korean firm had sacked him after he was injured while on duty. "I was not even allowed to enter the factory when I went there to plead my case," he added.

Expectations of getting jobs are high also because the success of agriculture here depends on Narmada waters for which farmers have to pay charges. Their experience with Anand Agricultural University in this regard is not very memorable either. "If there is no Narmada water, there is no other job apart from being employed as a casual labourer," said a government employee.