Videocon boss Venugopal N Dhoot, a former president of Assocham, said Monday that he has offered to talk to Ratan Tata to help break the Singur deadlock, even as Tata Motors? continued to keep its staff away from the project site for the third day in the face of the siege laid by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in support of her demands for the return of land to farmers.

?I have sought an appointment with Ratan Tata,? Dhoot said. Assocham officials in Delhi confirmed that the chamber, now headed by Sajjan Jindal, who has the biggest investments in the state, has sought an appointment with Tata.

Dhoot, whose projected plans make one of the largest investors currently in West Bengal, suggested that the Tatas talk directly to the farmers, as he has done for his projects in the state.

?I have not faced any problems,? said Dhoot, whose new projects add up to around Rs 15,000 crore. But he hastened to add that he was not seeking to mediate on behalf of the government. ?He (Tata) has to settle it. This is a small matter?He has to settle with the farmers. They could have settled it long time back on their own,? he said. ?They shouldn?t take this matter on the world horizon.?

Dhoot pointed out that West Bengal is not dependent on any specific project as its GDP has been growing and investors are coming. His own Rs 15,000-crore steel and power project is on track despite the Singur controversy. He said it should not be a problem for a big house like that of the Tatas to resolve the issue.

?The Tatas are so big? it is a very small issue for them,? said Dhoot, adding that for a group that earns Rs 100 crore a day, it should not be a problem to talk to the farmers and resolve the issue.

?This state is having a GDP of Rs 400,000 crore — Rs 1500 crore is a small matter,? he said, referring to the investment so far in the Nano car project here. Banerjee herself, after hinting on Sunday that she is open to talks, made no move towards the government, which has kept its doors open. Instead, she organised a 10,000-strong rally against the entry of big business in retail.

With ground conditions still murky, and the government and administration reluctant to step in, the Tatas decided to keep work shut for the fourth day in a row.

Ever since the siege began on August 24, Tata Motors had been sending around 1000 employees from Kolkata to the project site, using a longer route to get around the Expressway blockade. The first to face difficulties and intimidation were the contractors workers, who had to come by public transport.

Then Tata Motors stopped shuttling their staff to the site on Thursday after a group under Banerjee?s umbrella stopped a bus leaving the factory gate for over three hours and threatened the employees.

?The conditions in Singur are still not conducive for resuming work today. We continue to assess the situation closely,? Tata Motors said in a carbon copy of what it has been saying since Friday. The Durgapur Expressway stretch of NH2 bordering the Nano small-car factory continued to be blocked Banerjee and her allies, with NHAI, prodded by a court order last Friday, registering a police complaint but the authorities declined to take action.