West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today requested Tata group chairman Ratan Tata to restart work at its Singur project and assured him of all help from the state administration.

"The chief minister has written to Tata requesting him to restart work at the Nano plant at Singur," Industry Minister Nirupam Sen told reporters in Kolkata. In his letter, Bhattacharjee promised to extend all help and cooperation to the Tatas. Sen said the people of Singur and the state wanted the Tata project to happen.

On speculation that the Tatas might shift their project from the state, Sen said the company had not yet taken the decision. Sen said the state government would give necessary security to the Tata Motors [Get Quote]. "There might be some people who were creating problems but that is not the voice of all the people and we want to convey it to the Tatas," he said.

The state cabinet had, on September 25, appealed to Tata Motors not to withdraw the Nano project from Singur and assured it of all help and cooperation for its implementation. The cabinet, in a statement, urged the opposition parties to accept the rehabilitation package offered to land losers in Singur and cooperate in the implementation of the project.

Tata Motors had suspended work in the Singur plant since August 29 following agitation by the Trinamool Congress-led opposition.