The newly-elected Congress government in Chhattisgarh has stated it will return the land acquired from tribal farmers in Bastar in 2005 by then state government for the cast off Tata Steel project, which did not take off.

The state government issued a press release on Monday which stated that Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has issued orders to the concerned department and the process of returning the land of the tribals will start soon.

The grand old Congress party had promised in its election manifesto that since the land is lying inactive for more than five years it would be returned to the tribals as per Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act, 2013, if they were voted back to power for Rahul Gandhi led party.

In 2005, Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tata Steel to set up a plant worth Rs 19,500 crore in Lohandiguda in Bastar.

The state government soon after acquired about 2,045 hectares of land in ten villages then, in August 2006, Tata Steel closed the Lohandigua project but the state government did not grant the land back to the owners. Tata Steel officials in Jamshedpur rejected to mention on the issue.