Mumbai: Tata Motors has announced its exit from Singur and shift its `Nano' car project out of West Bengal. The decision was taken after discussions between Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata and West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in the state secretariat.

Tata Motors said it constructed the plant over the past two years, despite continued agitation and hostility affecting the reputation and integrity of the Tata Group. It has now almost reached a start-up position of the plant.  However, the heightened level of agitation and hostility to the project has given rise to concern for the physical security of its staff, contractors and vendors. Threats, intimidation and instances of assault and general obstruction in one form or the other have been the order of the day, Tata Motors said.

''In the interest of the project's success and viability and in light of the opposition's continued agitation, there was no option but to move the project out of the West Bengal,'' Ratan Tata told the West Bengal chief minister.

Tata was accompanied at the talks by Tata Motors' managing director Ravi Kant.

Besides chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee  the minister-in-charge of commerce and industries in the state Nirupam Sen also attended the meeting.

Both Ratan Tata and Ravi Kant reiterated their faith in the state government's policies and expressed regret that these unfortunate circumstances had prevented Tata Motors' participation in the development of West Bengal.

The Tatas are exploring other sites for locating the Nano plant and have already met chief mInisters of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Work at the Singur project to roll out the world's cheapest car has been stalled since 2 September following agitation by a section of the farmers over land acquired for the plant.

While the agitators led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has been blamed for most of the Tata Project's woes, the state government too had bungled in the way it acquired land for the project.