While Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata said in Delhi he had received no communication from the state government regarding return of the land, Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said in Kolkata that the government had already got in touch with the Tatas to get back the land from them.

“Show us the money and we will vacate the land,” Ratan Tata said in Delhi, echoing what he had said during his earlier trip to Kolkata that the Tatas would give back the land at Singur if it was adequately compensated.

But Chakrabarti had said last week that the state government would not have to pay any compensation to them in order to get the land back.

“We are talking to them. I don’t think we will have to pay any money to them,” the chief secretary had said.

Chakrabarti stuck to his last week’s statement today as well.

“We have got in touch with the Tatas so that we get back the land. We need to talk more on this. The Tatas have not yet placed any demand for compensation officially,” the chief secretary said.

“We have also spent some money there at Singur (on construction of infrastructure). However, if the demand (for compensation) is placed, it will be discussed at the appropriate level,” he added.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had,in fact, already offered to build a coach factory on the piece of land and Railway Board chairman S M Khurana had written to the chief secretary to hand over the land to them.