Singur, April 5 -- Farmers in Singur, known for the 2006 to 2008 protests against the Tata Nano project, have said they are open to industrial development if it creates jobs but insist that such projects must come up only on infertile land and not on fertile, multi-crop fields.

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, farmers from Singur town and the surrounding community development block in Hooghly district said they support industrial growth in principle. However, they stressed that fertile agricultural land, which sustains thousands of families, should not be disturbed.

The Singur issue had earlier changed the political landscape of the state. Protests against land acquisition for the Tata Nano plant led to the exit ...