Tamluk, Oct. 27: The companies that proposed the Rs 2,000-crore shipyard on the bank of the Hooghly in East Midnapore today threatened to pull out in the face of opposition by the Trinamul-led Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee.

“We are ready to talk to the farmers. But if the government fails to provide us land, we shall shift elsewhere,” Subir Chakraborty, the vice-president of Bharati Shipyard, told a joint news conference in Haldia with Saurav Das Patnaik, an Apeejay Group director, by his side.

Chakraborty said they had surveyed land in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. “But we chose Bengal because the government promised to provide us with the land. The 12-15m depth of the Hooghly near Geonkhali would have been helpful for the shipyard.”

Bharati needs 400 acres to build the shipyard in collaboration with Apeejay.

“Over 40,000 people will get jobs,” Das Patnaik said. “Village youths who have passed Class X or XII will be trained so that they can be employed.”

Villagers who had decided to sell their land if the investors spoke to them directly changed their decision yesterday as political leaders stepped in.

Asked if the project can be shifted to Jelingham near Nandigram, as suggested by Trinamul, Chakraborty said: “No. We chose Geonkhali as it’s well connected by road and rail. Haldia port is only 20km away and Calcutta port about 60.”

The Pratirodh Committee refused to comment.