Calcutta, Oct. 2: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will request Ratan Tata to restart work at Singur under police protection when they come face to face tomorrow for talks crucial to the fate of the Nano project in Bengal, top officials said.

The government and the CPM today decided to go with the offer of “maximum security possible” although the Tatas have said they would not want to operate in an environment of fear where employees’ children are scared to go to school.

“We’ll try to convince the Tatas they can return to the site and resume work,” said a senior official who was busy through the day, along with others, preparing the government’s position paper for tomorrow’s talks.

CPM sources said Bhattacharjee looked a little downcast and not too optimistic at today’s party state secretariat, which had advanced its weekly meeting by a day to discuss the Tata talks.

But the secretariat told him to be firm and avoid being apologetic while presenting his case, and to tell Tata the land issue was the same everywhere and the company would be disregarding popular opinion in Bengal if it pulled out.

The government may also try to find out if Tata might part with a little more than the 30 acres that is part of the 70 acres offered in the government’s new rehab package.

Trinamul Congress officials have been hinting Mamata Banerjee might eventually agree to accept much less than 300 acres. She has apparently been asking her interlocutors to get an idea from the government about how much the offer can go up from 70 acres.

The evening meeting at Writers’ Buildings is likely to be confined to Bhattacharjee, industries minister Nirupam Sen and Tata. If they need administrative inputs, chief secretary A.K. Deb, industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen and WBIDC chief Subrata Gupta may join in.

Many in industry and political circles appeared pessimistic on the eve of the talks. But mediators in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta said they expected Tata to allow more time for a solution to be found, keeping in mind that the Singur land acquisition was now before the Supreme Court.

“We don’t want to pre-judge the outcome (of the meeting),” a Mumbai-based source said. “But things are at a stage where it’s difficult even for Ratan Tata to announce something drastic. The legal, financial and political cost would be huge. The apex court may not expect any of the main players to take a unilateral stance.”

Other sources, however, said that even if Tata Motors refrained from saying a categorical “no” to the Singur project, it might well choose to keep it in limbo.

Among the scenarios being discussed in Delhi and Calcutta, one has the Prime Minister, who yesterday said it was “not too late” for a settlement, helping find a solution. Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi today said: “I agree with what the Prime Minister said.”