Tata Motors rang Uttarakhand Chief Secretary I K Pandey to find out if there had been progress on some “outstanding land-related issues” they had raised with the state. It was the first feeler from the Tatas to Uttarakhand — and the first concrete signal that the company was ready to actually pull out of Bengal.

“They asked us if the outstanding issues they had raised with us some time back have been resolved and we assured them it is being done. We also offered to help and facilitate in any way we can for the Nano plant if they do bring it here and they said they will let us know if required,” Pandey told The Indian Express.

Tata Motors had earlier sought another 200 acres adjoining their 1,100-acre plant in Pantnagar. The issue had been in limbo, but Uttarakhand, sniffing an opportunity in the Singur imbroglio, has recently swung into action.

Earlier this year, the Tatas had told the state government that if they faced problems in Singur, Pantnagar would be the site for the Nano plant. Pandey said they were yet to confirm anything, but state officials indicated that a dialogue has begun to get the Nano over.

In Kolkata, Governor Gopal Gandhi will preside over a meeting between representatives of the government and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee at Raj Bhavan on September 5 to try and break the deadlock. Justice Chittatosh Mukherjee, former chief justice of Bombay High Court, will also be present.

Sources said the state government would accept the formation of a committee that would explore the “possibility and the process” of giving land to the unwilling farmers of Singur.

Rezzak Mollah, Bengal minister for land and land reforms, said the government would check if it had a legally valid option of returning land. The government has pleaded that land return is not a legal option; the opposition has been insisting on a “sincere” attempt.

The government is understood to have asked officers associated with the land acquisition process to talk to the aggrieved farmers. One such officer confirmed that a section of the unwilling farmers indicated they may settle with a better compensation package.