“We have failed in Nandigram. It was an administrative and political failure. We have learnt lessons from Nandigram that we have to take people into confidence. We have to ensure that Nandigram does not repeat itself,” he told a press conference here.

Asked about his remark after the “recapture” of Nandigram that those opposed to the CPM and land acquisition had been “paid back in the same coin”, he said: “I should not have said that because I want peace for all sections. Some people were evicted by Trinamool Congress and some by CPM. But I want peace for all.”

He said he had no immediate plans to visit Nandigram as “political speech will not help the situation at the moment.”

To a question whether Nandigram had affected the process of industrialisation in the state, he said: “Nandigram or no Nandigram, the process of industrialisation in West Bengal cannot be stopped.”

He said no corporate house, business group or foreign company had said they would withdraw from the state. “In fact, major foreign companies from Japan, US, Singapore and Dubai have sent proposals” to invest in the state.

On the chemical hub which was supposed to have come up at Nandigram, Bhattacharjee said it was now being set up at Nayachar which did not have any habitation nor arable land.

Bhattacharjee said he briefed the Prime Minister on the steel plant to be established by the Jindal group in Salboni. He said the PM had accepted his invitation to lay the foundation stone of the project in January.

Two new steel plants, he said, were coming up at Purulia and Bardhaman, a biotech park was being established by IIT, Kharagpur, in collaboration with the University of Berkeley. He also briefed the Prime Minister on the progress of the establishment of a deep-sea port in the state. Shipping Minister T R Baalu would be visiting Kolkata soon to discuss the project. He said the situation in Nandigram was “fast returning to normal” and most of those who had been evicted had already returned.

A total of Rs 1 crore had so far been spent by his government for their rehabilitation, including reconstruction and repair of damaged houses, roads, bridges as also supply of clothing, utensils and fertiliser mini-kits for farmers to sow the rabi crop, he said. Bhattacharjee said a senior officer had been sent to the Nandigram area to prepare a report on what kind of development projects could be implemented there. “As soon as we get this report, I will announce the projects.”