Kolkata, Aug 26 : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today ruled out returning 400 acres of the Tata Motors'' Nano factory site to farmers, saying such a step would mean dropping all plans to manufacture the world''s cheapest car in the state.

"I cannot afford to return the 400 acres. If that land has to be returned, then Tata Motors project has to be dropped. I cannot allow this to happen," Bhattacharjee told here an interactive session with the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Singur/ Kolkata, Aug 26: The main Opposition party in West Bengal the Trinamool Congress has warned to continue its protests till its demand of returning the 400 acres of land to the farmers was met.

“Our protest will continue further till the time the government returns the farmers their land which was forcefully acquired from them,” said Madan Mitra, leader of the Trinamool Congress.

Meanwhile, the indefinite siege by the protesters in front of the Tata car plant choked the Durgapur Expressway on Monday, hampering vehicular movement on the entire highway. Trucks and buses have been stranded on the highway since Sunday, when the protest started.

Kolkata, Aug 25 : In a fresh bid to end the Singur land impasse, the West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday wrote another letter to Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee.

TMC is on an indefinite agitation at Singur demanding immediate return of 400 acres to farmers unwilling to part with their land.

West Bengal Home secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty told media persons that senior officers of the state Home department would hand over the letter to Banerjee.

Kolkata, Aug 24 : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has said that there was no question of Tata factory moving out of Singur in the wake of the company''s threat that it is prepared to move the plant elsewhere to make the Nano car.

"There is no question of Tata factory moving out of Singur. If the chairman of the company wants to set up a plant in some other state, I have no problem. I would really want him to stay in Singur," Bhattacharjee told reporters here.

Kolkata, Aug 23 : President Pratibha Patil arrived here today on a two-day visit to West Bengal.

Patil, who arrived in a special IAF plane, was received at the NSC Bose International airport by the Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee.

This will be the President''s first visit to West Bengal since she assumed the highest office of the country.

During her visit, the President will participate in the celebrations of 225 years of the Asiatic Society.

Kolkata, Aug 23: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has appealed to his political adversary the Trinamool Congress to maintain peace and discuss with government to decide over the contentious TATA project.

He said he was trying to resolve the issue through holding talks with the Opposition parties.

"We are exchanging details of the project with the opposition in a cordial atmosphere. We are discussing this issue with the opposition and trying to solve it at highest level," said Bhattacharjee.