Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

FACTBOX-Disputed industrial projects in India
03 Oct 2008 14:12:42 GMT
 Source: Reuters
Oct 3 (Reuters) - India's Tata Motors Ltd <TAMO.BO> will move the factory for its low-cost Nano car out of West Bengal state after violent protests by farmers who lost land forced it to stop construction work last month, its chairman said on Friday. See [ID:nDEL240155]

The protests reflect a larger standoff between industry and farmers unwilling to surrender land in a country where two-thirds of the population depends on agriculture for a living.

Here are five large industrial projects that have been wracked by protests in India recently:

- Tata Motors' plant in Singur, West Bengal, in which the company had invested about $350 million for an initial capacity to build 250,000 cars, was shut on Sept. 2 after protests by farmers unhappy with the compensation given for their land and who were backed by the state's main opposition party.

- In August the Supreme Court gave South Korean steel firm POSCO <005490.KS> the use of large swathes of forest land in the eastern state of Orissa for a $12 billion plant that protesting farmers said would displace thousands of people.

The protests delayed the start of construction on the plant, which could be India's single biggest foreign investment to date.

- The Supreme Court in the same month allowed Vedanta Resources Plc <VED.L> to mine bauxite in hills considered sacred by tribal people in Orissa. The mining will feed an alumina refinery, part of an $800 million project that has been widely opposed.

Environmentalists say the open-cast mine will wreck the rich biodiversity of the remote hills and disrupt key water sources vital for farming.

- Goa state, famous for its beaches and tourist industry, in January dropped plans to build special economic zones for industry after protests from political and environmental groups.

- West Bengal last year aborted a plan for a special economic zone (SEZ) for a chemicals complex in Nandigram after fierce protests. At least 35 villagers were killed in clashes between locals and communist party workers and the state government put all SEZs on hold in the state. (Compiled by Rina Chandran; editing by Mark Williams and Roger Crabb)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  Destroyed crops and livelihood weighs on flood survivors
ActionAid - India

•  Destroyed crops and livelihood weighs on flood survivors
ActionAid - India

•  Destroyed crops and livelihood weighs on flood survivors
ActionAid - India

•  EFICOR's Bihar Flood relief update
EFICOR - India

•  Grassroots Women's Initiatives in Reconstruction and Governance: Community Visit and Exchange Workshop
SSP - India

MORE >>

Latest news

•  FACTBOX-Disputed industrial projects in India

•  Sri Lanka fighting kills 42, food reaches war zone

•  India's Tata Motors to shift Nano from W.Bengal-TV

•  India's Tata Motors to shift Nano from W.Bengal-TV

•  U.S. envoy holds last-ditch N.Korea nuclear talks

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Background information

Facts & figures
India Korea (South) United Kingdom

Related articles

Breaking stories
 Indian police detain about 12 over Delhi blast (1 minute ago)

Afghan minister does not confirm Taliban talks (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Most Britons unaware of African conflicts - Red Cross survey (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 Destroyed crops and livelihood weighs on flood survivors (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 Yes, people over 50 have sex too (1 minute ago)

Maps
 MAP: Floods in Orissa, India (satellite image) (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-03T121226Z_01_DEL05_RTRIDSP_2_INDIA-BLASTS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DEL05.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-02T142928Z_01_MUM01_RTRIDSP_2_INDIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/MUM01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-02T110218Z_01_DEL036_RTRIDSP_2_INDIA-BLASTS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DEL036.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-02T101409Z_01_DEL52_RTRIDSP_2_INDIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DEL52.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-02T084939Z_01_DEL28_RTRIDSP_2_INDIA-BLAST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DEL28.htm

A paramilitary soldier stands guard as others patrol at a market where a bomb went off on Wednesday, in the northeastern Indian city of Agartala October 3, 2008. At least two ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Fri Oct 3 14:15:46 2008