[Onthebarricades] INDIA - West Bengal - land grab protest defeats industrial giant Tata

[global resistance roundup]

In West Bengal, mass protests and roadblocks forced the cancellation of 
a factory to build the new Tata Nano car, as local farmers backed by the 
political opposition protested for the return of land grabbed by the 
state to build the factory.

Tata Nano protest stories, August-October 2008, most recent first.

* October 20 - Trinamool rally targets Tata, state government
* October - protests in Gujarat as project relocated
* October - Andhra Pradesh farmers protest suggestion to move Tata to Andhra
* September 29 - Uttarakhand move proposed
* September 10 - new Tata protests and Naxalite rally
* September 9 - protests force Tata out of Bengal; protests end
* September 2-5 - Work at Tata plant halted by protests
* September 3 - Counter-protest against Tata blockade
* August 28-31 - Protests disrupt construction
* August 25 - Protest blocks highway
* August 24 - Indefinite protest launched

http://story.indiagazette.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/701ee96610c884a6/id/420686/cs/1/

Thousands of Trinamool supporters take part in protest
India Gazette
Monday 20th October, 2008
(IANS)
Traffic across large parts of central Kolkata was thrown out of gear as 
several thousand activists of West Bengal's main opposition Trinamool 
Congress took part in a siege on the city police headquarters at Lal 
Bazar Monday.

Despite apprehensions of violence, the programme passed off peacefully.

Amid heavy security arrangements, the Trinamool workers assembled at the 
Metro Channel in the heart of the city protesting against police 
'high-handedness' and the 'unlawful' arrest of a party activist Oct 5.

Shouting slogans against West Bengal's Left Front government and its 
major constituent Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), they walked 
two kilometres through the main thoroughfares Chittaranjan Avenue and 
B.B. Ganguly Street before converging at Phears Lane.

More than 10,000 policemen, including armed force, Rapid Action Force 
personnel, intelligence sleuths, plainclothesman, and the Special Action 
Force members were deployed to prevent any breach of peace.

Though Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee stayed away from the programme, 
all other important party leaders took part.

Addressing the workers, leader of opposition in the state assembly 
Partha Chatterjee said his party's struggle was against the government's 
efforts to use the police to quell democratic protests.

'Forty four thousand false cases have been slapped against the 
opposition activists. Whoever opposes this government, is thrown in 
prison,' he said.

Chatterjee, who had a bitter argument with city police commissioner 
Goutam Mohan Chakraborty Oct 5 over the arrest of party activist Swarup 
Biswas, warned the police not to be partial.

'But I know you have to be so under the present regime of Buddhadeb 
Bhattacharjee'.

Taking on Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata for splashing advertisements in 
newspapers eulogising Chief Minister Bhattacharjee and decrying 
Trinamool and Banerjee, he said: 'Some people are telling the CPI-M that 
I will even advertise for you. You only have to finish off Mamata.'

Chatterjee issued a warning to the government that it could not stop 
protests by the use of brute force. 'Wherever we find people are being 
tortured, we will raise our voice. We cannot be deterred by batons or 
bullets.'

With traffic coming to a halt in central Kolkata, students returning 
home were greatly inconvenienced. Some ambulances were also seen 
stranded in the snarl.







http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080068666

Politics fuels Nano protest in Gujarat, agitation intensifies
Joydeep Ray
Tuesday, October 14, 2008, (Ahmedabad)
Trouble just seems to be following the Tata's prestigious Nano project. 
After protesting farmers led by the Trinamool Congress drove the project 
out of West Bengal, now in its new home in Gujarat, it is almost like a 
repeat all over again.

The state Congress is up in arms along with the farmers saying the 
compensation given for their land is not enough. (Watch)

The farmers in Sanand are almost echoing the anti-Nano protestors in 
Bengal. The Congress in Gujarat says they want an RTI into the 
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Tata Motors and state 
government.

They claim the government should have compensated the farmers for the 
land before giving it over to a corporate house.

"This land worth of Rs 1000 crore has been given at almost no cost to 
the Tatas for their project of only Rs 1500 crore. This is just not only 
state exchequer lost its income but also the poor farmers have been 
deprived of their legitimate demands of compensation for their own 
land," said Arjun Modhvadia, leader of opposition.

The government has argued that this is government land and the farmers 
have no claim over it. But egged on by the Congress, the farmers in 
Sanand the site of the plant have intensified their protests.
The farmers claim they are historic owners of the land and that the 
dispute is already in court. They have brought a new legal notice 
against the government for not compensating them.

"How government can hand over our land to someone else without even 
consulting us. Government is not giving the land free to Tatas as 
government itself has claimed that Tatas bought land in existing market 
rate," said Mukesh Vaghela, farmer, Chharodi.

But many say that this is political posturing by the Congress, which 
unlike Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, cannot afford to escalate its 
anti-Nano protests.

Congress leaders say that they welcome the Nano project as it benefits 
Gujarat. They are only asking for compensation for the farmers.

Also, many of the Congress leaders are leading industrialists and have 
more than just a political stake in Gujarat's economic growth.







http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122338771211111405.html?mod=fox_australian

• OCTOBER 8, 2008
Tata to Shift Production of Minicar After Protests

NEW DELHI -- Tata Motors Ltd. is shifting production of the world's 
cheapest car to the western state of Gujarat, in a move that shows how 
Indian states are vying for investment despite grass-roots resistance to 
some big industrial projects.
Tata Chairman Ratan Tata said Tuesday that the company had acquired 
1,100 acres of land near Gujarat's business capital, Ahmedabad, and 
would relocate equipment from a failed West Bengal project to build the 
main production plant for its 623cc Nano minicar.






http://www.indiaenews.com/business/20081005/148976.htm

Sunday, October 05, 2008
Tata officials visit Andhra sites, face farmers' protests
 From correspondents in Andhra Pradesh, India, 07:00 PM IST
A team of officials from Tata Motors Sunday conducted inspection of two 
sites near here for their Nano car project but faced protests from 
farmers, who refused to part with their land.
The team led by Tata Motors' managing director G. Ravi Kant and 
accompanied by officials of the state revenue department visited 
Seetarampuram and Aluru villages in Ranga Reddy district. Both sites are 
close to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.
The delegation first visited Seetarampuram village where the state 
government has offered 1,128 acres of land at concessional rates.
But as soon as the officials of the company and the revenue department 
reached there, local farmers gathered and tried to stop the inspection.
The farmers made it clear they would not surrender their land at any 
cost as they had been cultivating these for decades. The police had to 
intervene and cane the farmers to allow the team to complete its inspection.
The protest by farmers and local people in Singur in West Bengal has 
forced Tata Motors to pull out from there.
Tata officials also visited Aluru village where the government is 
offering 1,240 acres of land.
The 10-member team later returned to the state capital to meet Chief 
Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who is ready to offer any concession to 
wrangle the Nano project for the state.
The state government has proposed another site in the coastal city of 
Visakhapatnam, where it is ready to allot 1,000 acres for the project.
The government announced huge sops Friday to attract the prestigious 
project.
Besides allotment of land at concessional rates, the state is offering 
100 percent exemption from stamp duty, subsidised electricity with two 
feeder lines, exemption from electricity tax for 10 years and refund of 
gross output value added tax (VAT) and central sales tax (CST) for 21 years.
The government has also offered exemptions from entry tax, VAT on 
capital goods, works contract tax, octroi and other state levies.
The sops announced Friday by the state are part of the government's 
ultra mega integrated automobile policy and are on par with those 
announced by the Tamil Nadu government.
Under this policy, the government will provide incentives to automobile 
projects, either new or those under expansion, which are ready to invest 
not less than Rs.40 billion.








http://andhracafe.com/index.php?m=show&id=36616

Now Andhra farmers protest against Tatas

Hyderabad, Oct 5 A team of officials from Tata Motors Sunday conducted 
inspection of two sites near here for their Nano car project but faced 
protests from farmers, who refused to part with their land.

The team led by Tata Motors' managing director G. Ravi Kant and 
accompanied by officials of the state revenue department visited 
Seetarampuram and Aluru villages in Ranga Reddy district. Both sites are 
close to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.
The delegation first visited Seetarampuram village where the state 
government has offered 1,128 acres of land at concessional rates.
But as soon as the officials of the company and the revenue department 
reached there, local farmers gathered and tried to stop the inspection.
The farmers made it clear they would not surrender their land at any 
cost as they had been cultivating these for decades. The police had to 
intervene and cane the farmers to allow the team to complete its inspection.
The protest by farmers and local people in Singur in West Bengal has 
forced Tata Motors to pull out from there.
Tata officials also visited Aluru village where the government is 
offering 1,240 acres of land.
The 10-member team later returned to the state capital to meet Chief 
Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who is ready to offer any concession to 
wrangle the Nano project for the state.
The state government has proposed another site in the coastal city of 
Visakhapatnam, where it is ready to allot 1,000 acres for the project.
The government announced huge sops Friday to attract the prestigious 
project.
Besides allotment of land at concessional rates, the state is offering 
100 percent exemption from stamp duty, subsidised electricity with two 
feeder lines, exemption from electricity tax for 10 years and refund of 
gross output value added tax (VAT) and central sales tax (CST) for 21 years.
The government has also offered exemptions from entry tax, VAT on 
capital goods, works contract tax, octroi and other state levies.
The sops announced Friday by the state are part of the government's 
ultra mega integrated automobile policy and are on par with those 
announced by the Tamil Nadu government.
Under this policy, the government will provide incentives to automobile 
projects, either new or those under expansion, which are ready to invest 
not less than Rs.40 billion.








http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/sep/29tata.htm

Uttarakhand agri minister protests Tata land move

Shishir Prashant in Dehra Dun | September 29, 2008 10:33 IST

The Uttarakhand government's move to allot 50 acres of agriculture land 
to Tata Motors [Get Quote] for housing purposes has hit a rough patch 
with Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressing opposition to 
the use of farm land for industrial or any other use.
"The agriculture land should be used only for agriculture purposes," 
said Rawat expressing his strong opposition. Rawat said that a big chunk 
of land has fallen into the hands of land mafia in the state.
This also means that the company may have to wait for more time to get 
the 50 acres of land from the government in the wake of reservations 
expressed by Rawat and some small social groups.
Although the Uttarakhand government had expressed its commitment to 
allot 50 acres land to Tata Motors during the Thursday's meeting held 
between Chief Secretary I K Pande and the company officials here, 
official sources today clarified that the auto major is yet to get the 
land and that it should wait till a favourable environment is built in 
the hill state over the issue of land transfer.
The government wants the land from Pantnagar Agriculture University to 
be given to Tata Motors. Significantly, the University Vice Chancellor B 
S Bist also said that the land has not yet been allotted. "We have not 
given any land to Tata Motors.
On the other hand, the sources also clarified that the government has 
not yet taken any decision regarding the Tata Motors' demand to lower 
the lease rent to Rs one per sq meter from Rs five per sq meter for its 
1000 acres of industrial plot at Pantnagar where it wants to produce 
Nano car. "The decision is still pending but we are positive on it," 
said Pande.
But the sources said the decision on both land allotment and lease rent 
is likely to be taken at the next cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, HESCO, a Dehra Dun-based social group, has asked the 
government to safeguard the interests of Uttarakhand before allocating 
agriculture land for industrial purposes. "We must guard our own 
interests when we give our prime agriculture land to Tata Motors or 
other industries," said HESCO Director Dr Anil P Joshi.





http://www.indianexpress.com/news/New-protest,-Naxalite-party-holds-rally/359564/

New protest, Naxalite party holds rally
Font Size
Express News Service Posted: Sep 10, 2008 at 0159 hrs IST

Print Email Feedback Discuss
Kolkata, September 9: The worries of Chief Minister Buddhadeb 
Bhattacharjee over Singur issue are far from over. Landless agricultural 
labourers and sharecroppers of Singur, who lost their jobs after the 
land was acquired for the Tata Motors factory, have decided to launch a 
fresh movement demanding compensation from the state government.
The people are being organised under the banner of Communist Party of 
India Marxist Leninist (Liberation), a Naxalite political party. Over 
1,000 agricultural labourers and 1,200 sharecroppers of Singur will 
participate in the rally to be held in the Barohatkalitala area of 
Singur on Wednesday. The rally will be addressed by senior state 
committee members of CPIML (L).
The sharecroppers alleged that their interests were not taken care of 
during the discussions held between the representatives of the state 
Government and Opposition parties at Raj Bhavan on Sunday. Sajal 
Adhikari, a CPIML (L) state committee member, said the state government 
has not announced any compensation for the agricultural labourers of 
Singur. “The state government has said that only 25 per cent of the land 
value would be given to the registered sharecroppers, though they 
deserve the similar compensation that was given to the land owners,” he 
added.
UK Pound Crosses Rs. 74Unmatched Exchange Rates, Overnight
Remit2India.com/FreeMoney
Clinton Thrashes Obama24 Hour News - Breaking Stories,
www.russiatoday.com
Celeb Big Brother 2009Who's going in the house?
www.thesun.co.uk/bigbroth
Ads By Google
“These marginal farmers, who were beaten up on several occasions by 
Singur police for resisting the state government’s forceful land 
acquisition, would assemble at Singur tomorrow demanding withdrawal of 
criminal cases filed against them by the police,” Adhikari said.
Farmers have also demanded that the details of the agreement between the 
state government and Tatas be published immediately. “Only a part of the 
agreement was published that did not provide all the details,” said 
Adhikari.
Villagers of Singur, meanwhile, held a rally supporting the Tata’s Nano 
plant on Tuesday, even as the work at the small car factory remained 
suspended.
More than a thousand people including farmers, CPM leaders, members of 
various syndicates, who supplied construction material to the Nano 
factory and unemployed youths participated in the rally. They raised 
pro-Tata slogans and stated that if Tata factory leaves Singur, it will 
spell a doom for the area.
“This is a non-political rally. People from all walks of life are 
present here. After the construction of the Nano factory, the area has 
seen rapid development. If Tata’s move out, people will lose their jobs 
which they got at the factory,” said Dibakar Das, local CPM leader.





http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/asia/india/2008/09/09/173865/Protests-end.htm

Protests end against Tata’s cheap car plant
SINGUR, India -- Opposition activists in eastern India on Monday 
abandoned their siege of a Tata Motors factory set to build the world’s 
cheapest car after striking a deal to end violent protests against the 
plant.
West Bengal state’s Trinamool Congress party, which has been 
spearheading the opposition, hailed the Marxist state government’s 
pledge to return seized land as “a big victory” for evicted farmers.
“I am suspending protests,” party leader Mamata Banerjee told crowds of 
activists, who chanted “We have won!” and “Long live the revolution!”
But Tata Motors, India’s leading vehicle maker, said it was still 
studying the agreement, which is not entirely satisfactory to the 
company as it involves Tata having to shift some ancillary units, such 
as component vendors.
“There’s no reaction at this point in time. One is evaluating and 
studying this initiative,” a senior company official told AFP, asking 
not to be named.
Protests against the plant, slated to manufacture the ultra-cheap Nano 
car, have been going on for two years, but they worsened in the past few 
weeks with demonstrators besieging the factory and threatening to kill 
workers.
The plant in Singur is 90 percent complete, and Tata Motors, part of the 
tea-to-steel Tata Group, has said it aims to launch the Nano in October, 
in time for the big-spending annual Hindu festival season.
Tata hopes to sell the car at just 100,000 rupees, or US$2,264.
Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata warned over two weeks ago he would 
abandon the plant if the demonstrations continued, even though the 
company has poured US$350 million into the project.
All work on the factory was halted over a week ago when protesters 
barred workers entering the plant.
Even though Tata had yet to say whether it would accept the deal, people 
in Singur village were optimistic the plant would be saved.
“It’s a new dawn,” said plant worker Subal Manna.
Nearly 200 plant workers live in the village where agriculture is still 
the main livelihood.






http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/CSRfiles/page.php?Story_ID=2218

India: Farmers end protest over Tata Nano plant
A News item from Business Respect, Issue Number 136, dated 8 Sep 2008
Farmers who have been engaged in sometimes violent protest against the 
construction of the Tata Motors car plant in West Bengal have said that 
they are suspending their activities after the government promised to 
return some of the land that had been taken.
The move comes after Tata had threatened to pull altogether from the 
site in the face of the violence and damage done to the plant. The site 
is slated to be the home of the new Tata Nano, celebrated on launch as 
the world's cheapest car.

The crisis was initially created when the government took over 1,000 
acres of farmland for the factory. Offers of compensation to some of the 
farmers were rejected in the face of demands that at least 400 acres 
should be returned.

Protests have initially been suspended for seven days, whilst details of 
the return of land are resolved.





http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080909/BUSINESS/797245109/1005/rss

Nano car production stalls over Tata move
• Last Updated: September 09. 2008 10:26PM UAE / GMT
MUMBAI // The barricades blocking the highway to the Tata Motors Nano 
factory in West Bengal have come down, but the road is not yet clear for 
production of the world’s cheapest car.

Tata Motors said on Monday it would not immediately restart production 
of its super-cheap Nano car – which had a planned launch slated for the 
end of the year – even though farmers who had lost land and local 
political leaders opposed to the plant ended weeks of violent protests 
in Singur.

The local government on Sunday promised to compensate the farmers with 
more land. A committee will be set up to decide within a week the 
details of the compensation package.

“Tata Motors is obliged to continue the suspension of construction and 
commissioning work at the Nano Plant” until final details of the 
agreement are clarified, the company said on Monday. It insists it 
cannot keep costs down unless some 60 key suppliers remain integrated 
with the Nano factory.

Some farmers said they did not accept the government’s offer of 
compensation for their land because they could get a better price by 
selling the land directly to the company.

* Associated Press






http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/02/business/02tata.php

West Bengal protests lead Tata to halt all work on Nano car factory

By Anand Giridharadas
Published: September 2, 2008

MUMBAI: Tata Motors, whose trailblazing project is to build the world's 
cheapest car, said Tuesday that violent political protests over land had 
compelled it to stop building the factory in eastern India for its 
much-awaited Nano model.
But the car, set to cost 100,000 rupees, or $2,250, will still roll off 
assembly lines as planned in October under a backup plan to shift 
production to other Tata sites, an executive familiar with Tata's 
internal deliberations said late Tuesday.
For the first two months, Tata will produce 10,000 cars a month instead 
of the planned 40,000, according to the executive, who did not want to 
be identified because he was not authorized to speak for the company.
Still, the political throttling of the project has many in the Indian 
business community warning of a chilling effect on investment into the 
country.
"It's a slap on the face for Brand India," said Suhel Seth, a longtime 
adviser to the Tata Group and the managing partner of Counselage, a 
strategic branding firm in New Delhi.

"Which foreign company will want to come in when India's most respected 
group cannot set up industry in a state?"
With its briefcase-sized trunk, hollow steering-wheel shaft and 
rear-mounted German engine no stronger than a lawn mower, the car, which 
costs less than the optional DVD player on a Lexus sport utility 
vehicle, has been described as a "generational leapfrog in terms of cost 
reduction," by Daryl Rolley, the head of North American and Asian 
operations for Ariba, which provides parts for Tata and other auto 
makers. Ariba was also involved in the Nano project.
But the Nano has been dogged from the beginning by one of India's most 
wrenching dilemmas: how to create space for industry by moving farmers 
off their land and compensating them adequately.
The Communist-run government of West Bengal State invited the Tata 
Group, a towering symbol of Indian capitalism, to set up its plant in an 
area called Singur. It acquired 1,000 acres of land from farmers on the 
company's behalf.
As the project advanced, some of the farmers who had sold their land 
demanded it back. The main state-level opposition party, the Trinamool 
Congress, led protests demanding that the land be returned.
Most people sympathetic to Tata accused the opposition party of inducing 
the farmers to protest, while Tata's critics said the farmers had 
legitimate grievances. The issue simmered for months. But in recent 
weeks and days, it took a severe turn as protesters surrounded the 
facility, blocked roads in the area and prevented Tata workers from 
reaching the plant.
"The existing environment of obstruction, intimidation and confrontation 
has begun to impact the ability of the company to convince several of 
its experienced managers to relocate and work in the plant," Tata said 
in a statement on Tuesday.
Opponents of the project worry that an ultracheap car is being built for 
roads that have no space, under a sky already too thick with smog. They 
complain of Tata receiving a secret sweet deal from the government and 
say that it is taking land from the very poor to build cars for a 
swelling middle class that does not need government help.
Abhirup Sarkar, an economist at the Indian Statistical Institute in 
Calcutta, said, "The compensation paid for the land is measly," 
according to Reuters. "It should be three to four times higher than what 
was paid."
But Tata said Tuesday that it had trained workers in the area, built 
medical facilities and at its peak employed about 4,000 people, 
including many locals.
"Operation successful, patient dead," said Seth, the Tata adviser. "You 
had a successful political operation, but you've killed the aspirations 
of people, subverted the process of law and told politicians you can do 
what you will."





http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/beng-s05.shtml

Protests in West Bengal threaten to derail CPI (M)-sponsored Nano car 
project
By Kranti Kumara
5 September 2008
A 13-day-long peasant agitation for the return of land seized by the 
West Bengal Left Front government on behalf of the Tata Group is 
threatening to derail the Indian transnational company’s high-profile 
Nano Car project in Singur, which lies some 50 kilometers from the state 
capital Kolkata (Calcutta).
Tata and its automobile division, Tata Motors, have promoted the Nano—a 
two-cylinder, four-seater slated to go on sale later this year for 
around $2,500 US—as proof of their technical prowess. Tata’s “people’s 
car” project has also been hailed by India’s ruling elite as evidence of 
India’s rise to world-power status.
The agitation has seen peasants and their supporters camping outside and 
ultimately blocking access to a huge tract of land in Singur, where Tata 
has all but finished building its Nano assembly plant and auto 
parts-makers have established ancillary facilities. The protest movement 
is being organized under the auspices of an ad hoc umbrella group made 
up of 21 organizations including political parties, NGOs and peasant groups.
Political leadership of the movement is, nevertheless, effectively in 
the hands of Trinamul [Grassroots Party] Congress leader Mamata 
Banerjee. The official opposition in the state legislature, the Trinamul 
Congress is a right-wing, Bengal regionalist party which began as a 
split-off from the Congress Party. It has frequently made common cause 
with the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and participated 
in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, which during its 
tenure in office (1998-2004) aggressively pursued big business’s agenda 
of deregulation, tax cuts, privatization and marketization.
If an anticommunist demagogue like Banerjee is now able to posture as 
the voice of West Bengal’s downtrodden peasants it is because the 
Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front is ruthlessly pursuing 
“pro-investor” policies aimed at making the state a haven for 
cheap-labor manufacturing and business-processing. In the name of 
promoting the “industrialization” of West Bengal, the Stalinists have 
invoked colonial era legislation to expropriate peasant land on behalf 
of big business, then employed anti-democratic laws and lethal violence 
to quell popular opposition.
The immediate demand of the Singur protesters is for the return of 400 
of the 1,000 acres of land expropriated by West Bengal’s Stalinist-led 
government in 2006. The government has claimed that the peasants 
“voluntarily” sold their land, their sole means of livelihood. In fact 
they were cajoled, bullied and coerced, with both legal and extra-legal 
methods employed.
On Tuesday, the Tata Group announced immediate suspension of all 
construction work at the Singur plant site. “Tata Motors,” declared a 
company press release, “has been constrained to suspend construction and 
commissioning work at the Nano plant in Singur in view of the continued 
confrontation and agitation at the site.’ ”
The company also threatened to transfer the Nano project out of West 
Bengal if the protests persist: “In view of the current situation, the 
company is evaluating alternative options for manufacturing the Nano car 
at other company facilities and a detailed plan to relocate the plant 
and machinery to an alternative site is under preparation.”
The statement went on to claim that the decision to suspend work on the 
Singur plant “was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees 
and contract labour, who have continued to be violently obstructed from 
reporting to work.”
In fact, the company has shown callous disregard for both the peasants 
whose land it has grabbed with the Stalinists’ help and for the workers, 
many of whom come from the dispossessed peasant families. As a result of 
the suspension of work on the plant, Tata has placed the workers on 
indefinite layoff without pay.
In its statement, Tata offered the laid-off workers only a non-binding 
promise that it will inquire as to whether it can employ them elsewhere 
at some future date: “To minimize the impact [that the indefinite 
suspension of work] may have on the recently-recruited and trained 
people from West Bengal, the company is exploring the possibility of 
absorbing them at its other plant locations,”
It was reported that on Wednesday a 65-year-old day laborer at the Tata 
site, distraught at his inability to provide for his family, committed 
suicide.
Tata’s threat to relocate the Nano project is a sign of its 
determination to force a quick end to the Singur agitation.
Since Tata has already spent rupees 15 billion ($350 million) on 
developing the West Bengal site and moving the project would entail 
major delays in the car’s launch, the company will be loathe to carry 
through on its threat. But other state governments have been quick to 
express interest in offering Tata an alternate site.
In a September 3 article, the Times of India quoted a company source as 
saying, “This may well be a posturing by the company to show its 
seriousness on the threat. However, if there is no positive response, 
the company will pull out.’’
The Tata threat is aimed at both the West Bengal Left Front government 
and the Trinamul Congress.
The Stalinists twice resorted to lethal mass violence last year in 
seeking to quell a peasant protest against its plans to expropriate 
10,000 acres of land in Nandigram to set up a Special Economic Zone for 
the Salim Group. In the first instance, the CPM deployed 4,000 heavily 
armed state police. In the second they used CPM goons. (See “West 
Bengal’s Stalinist government mounts terror campaign to quash peasant 
unrest” and “West Bengal Stalinist regime perpetrates peasant massacre”)
But the bloody events at Nandigram provoked revulsion across India and 
have dealt a body blow to the Stalinists’ pretensions to represent 
India’s toilers. Fearing public approbation, the Left Front allies of 
the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM] have repeatedly made 
after-the-fact criticisms of the government’s Special Economic Zone 
policy and the methods the government has employed in implementing it.
For fear of the political fallout, the Left Front government has thus 
far refrained from mounting a major police action against the Singur 
agitation.
At the same time, West Bengal Chief Minister and CPM Politburo member 
Buddadeb Bhattacharya has been at pains to underscore his government’s 
determination to act as the guarantors of big business interests and 
profits. In an address to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and 
Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) on August 26 he declared, “I am against 
bandhs [general strikes). Unfortunately I belong to a political party 
which calls bandhs. I have kept quiet. But from now on, I’ll not keep 
quiet.”
Bhattacharya went on to condemn gherao, a protest tactic that became 
popular during the worker-student-peasant radicalization of the 1960s 
and which involves the encircling of a person in authority. “Gherao,” 
affirmed Bhattacharya, “is illegal and immoral. It is our contribution 
to the English language. It will not be allowed in the state.”
It has been reported that the Left Front government is considering 
legislation to curtail workers’ rights to resort to job action and 
imposing on workers a new legal responsibility to meet management 
production goals.
The Tata threat is also aimed at persuading Banerjee and her Trinamul 
Congress that there will be a political cost if they continue to align 
themselves, albeit for the purposes of weakening the Left Front 
government, with the peasant movement against land expropriations.
The corporate media has taken up the Tatas’ cause, vilifying the 
protesters in unison and imploring Banerjee to seek a speedy 
accommodation with her Left Front rivals. Other corporate leaders have 
also spoken out in support of the Tata Group. Bharti Group Chairman and 
CEO Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “The Tatas pulling out of West Bengal 
would be unfortunate for India. Nano is seen as a world car and has 
drawn international acclaim. Immediate political dialogue to find a 
solution towards keeping the project in West Bengal is imperative.”
On occasion Banerjee has cast herself as a champion of the poor against 
the Tatas (one of India’s oldest and most prestigious bourgeois 
families.) But this is pure bombast. She has repeatedly voiced support 
for increased big business investment in West Bengal.
A couple of days ago she made the following comment to the press: “We 
want work to resume at the Tata Motors plant soon because we don’t want 
the poor workers to suffer. We are not against the Tatas. We want the 
Tatas to bring out their car. Let there be talks to resolve the impasse. 
But our demand is fixed. The government has to return 400 acres of 
farmland to the unwilling farmers.”
In assuming a leading role in the current agitations, Mamata wishes to 
politically capitalize on the widespread popular opposition to the 
Stalinists’ pro-investor policies and bloody repression, while directing 
peasant grievances into safe and harmless channels.
There are indications, however, that the agitation has gone somewhat 
beyond her control. It was never Banerjee’s intention to stop work on 
the Tata plant, but on the evening of August 27 protesters initiated 
more militant action when they blocked busloads of employees from 
leaving the factory gates for several hours.
Banerjee has now announced that she will take part in a meeting between 
representatives of her party and Chief Minister Bhattacharya, which is 
to be hosted by the West Bengal governor. Representatives of none of the 
other organizations involved in the agitation appear to have been 
invited to the talks.
It is quite likely that the talks are aimed at isolating the more 
militant elements by striking a deal with the Trinamul Congress offering 
increased compensation to farmers for the loss of their land. Whether 
such a strategy will succeed is yet to be seen.
The Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has 
demonstrably announced that it will not intervene in the Singur dispute.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the most important UPA minister from 
West Bengal, Pranab Mukherjee, have frequently lavished praise on the 
Left Front government and its “industrialization” policy. But the 
Congress has assumed a much more aggressive stance against the 
Stalinists since the Left Front withdrew its support for the government 
in July over the Indo-US nuclear treaty.







http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7595422.stm

Wednesday, 3 September 2008 10:38 UK
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version


More protests hit Tata Nano plant

Tata and local farmers are at loggerheads over land rights
Tata Motors is in urgent talks with the West Bengal government after 
saying it will relocate its Indian auto plant.
Production of the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car, has been 
suspended indefinitely amid reports of more disturbances at the factory.
Tata Motors has decided to look for alternative manufacturing sites 
after violent protests by farmers in West Bengal where the plant is 
located.
Farmers want the return of 400 acres of land purchased to build the plant.
Tata said the situation at the plant was "hostile and intimidating".
The West Bengal government has called for urgent talks between 
government and opposition leaders and Ratan Tata, and asked the group 
not to finalise its decision to pull out of the plant until after these 
meetings.
Meanwhile, Indian businessmen are worried that the disturbances will set 
back India's efforts to attract foreign investment.
The business community in West Bengal is particularly concerned that if 
Tata leaves others will follow, our reporter Rahul Tandon says.
The state government has been desperately trying to attract investors, 
who for years have been put off by their communist policies.
Economic blow
The conflict has already led to loss of life.
A few hours after Tata announced its plans to suspend work at its car 
factory, a villager there allegedly committed suicide fearing loss of 
work for his sons.
Sushen Santra , 65, was found dead at his residence in the Joymalla 
village in Singur, early on Wednesday.
And at least six small farmers had earlier committed suicide in Singur 
when their lands were acquired for the Tata project.
The opposition Trinamul Congress party, which has been leading the 
protests, said they were not seeking Tata's withdrawal from the area, 
some 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Calcutta.
But they said the land on which the plant in Singur is being built had 
been forcibly acquired from "unwilling" farmers.

There is no way this plant could operate efficiently unless the 
environment became congenial and supportive of the project

Tata Motors
Tata is evaluating options to shift production of the Nano - which will 
cost about 100,000 rupees ($2,500) - to some of its six other 
manufacturing sites in India.
The firm said it had no choice but to suspend work at the Singur plant - 
in which it has invested $350m - because of the hostile environment.
"There is no way this plant could operate efficiently unless the 
environment became congenial and supportive of the project," a company 
spokesman said.
The BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta said other Indian states such as 
Maharashtra were keen to encourage Tata to build the car there.
The Nano project was a major boost for the West Bengal economy, with 
local authorities hoping to develop the area into a regional hub for 
low-cost car production.
More than 760 workers are currently employed there and Tata may consider 
moving them to other sites.
The Communist-led coalition in the state described Tata's decision as a 
"major loss" and described the current protests as "irresponsible".
Rural anger
One of the leaders of the protest movement said farmers' rights to their 
land had to be respected.

The Nano is intended to offer the dream of owning a car to the masses
"It is Tata's decision, not ours," he said of the move to stop work.
"We never asked them to leave."
India's rapid industrialization in recent years has been the backbone of 
the country's strong economic growth.
But this process has provoked a backlash since the majority of Indians 
still earn their living off the land.
The policy of creating special economic zones to attract new investment 
has provided a focal point for the anger of poorer, rural families who 
rely on their land for food and income.








http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=402274

Locals block Singur road, want protests to stop
________________________________________

IANS Wednesday 3rd September, 2008
A day after Tata Motors threatened to pull out of this rural belt, some 
locals - backed by the state's ruling Communists - put up a road block 
Wednesday demanding an end to the protests against the factory that is 
to produce the world's cheapest car Nano.

A farmer who had given land for the project is also alleged to have 
committed suicide Tuesday night after the Tatas signalled their 
readiness to withdraw from Singur.

The Nano factory's workers, contract labourers and also material 
suppliers to the plant held up traffic at the busy Ratanpur More 
Wednesday, exhorting other locals to stand up for the project.

'We want Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to withdraw the 
protests against the factory within 24 hours. Otherwise, we will start 
an intense agitation to stop the ongoing siege before the factory gates 
by the Trinamool and some other outfits,' said a protestor.

'We are in favour of industrialisation. We are in favour of the Tata 
plant. We need the factory for Singur's development,' he said.

Trinamool and several other opposition parties in the state, along with 
a section of local farmers, have been holding an indefinite siege near 
the factory gate since Aug 24, demanding the government return 400 acres 
allegedly taken forcibly from unwilling peasants for the car plant.

A total of 997.11 acres was acquired for the Tata Motors small car 
project in Singur.

There were more voices in favour of the factory Wednesday.

Town Hall, a Kolkata-based organisation of IT professionals, engineers 
and teachers, tried to meet Banerjee, but were apparently turned away by 
Trinamool leaders.

'I, along with two other members of our organisation, tried to meet 
Banerjee to impress upon her the need to make the situation congenial so 
that the project becomes operational once again,' said Town Hall 
convenor Jhuma Mukherjee, herself a software engineer working in the IT 
hub at Kolkata's satellite township of Salt Lake.

'But we were stopped from going to the dais by people over there. 
Ultimately, when we managed to get close to a makeshift podium and 
requested Banerjee to heed our pleas, we were asked to leave the spot by 
Trinamool leaders,' she said.

'A Trinamool leader even threatened us with physical assault. We are 
common people. We don't have any political banner. So we got frightened 
and left the place,' Mukherjee told reporters.

While there has been no police confirmation about the cause of the 
farmer's death, family members say it is a suicide linked to the Singur 
protests.

Sukhen Santra allegedly killed himself Tuesday after the Tatas 
threatened to withdraw from Singur. Santra had given land for the 
project and his two sons had got jobs in the factory.

'I have heard that one person has died, but can't say anything more,' 
said state Inspector General of police (law and order) Raj Kanojia.

After suspending work at the factory for four consecutive days following 
the protests, Tata Motors Tuesday signalled its readiness to pull out of 
the state, saying it was evaluating alternate options for manufacturing 
the world's cheapest car at other company facilities.

'In view of the current situation, the company is evaluating alternate 
options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities and a 
detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site 
is under preparation,' the company said in a statement.

The company also pointed out that it had 'been constrained to suspend 
the construction and commissioning work in view of continued 
confrontation and agitation at the site,' and said the decision to stop 
work was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and 
contract labourers.







http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122037878739291499.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

• SEPTEMBER 3, 2008
Protests in India Push Tata To Stop Building Car Plant
Modernization Foes In Rural Areas Send Message to Investors
By ERIC BELLMAN in Singur, WEST BENGAL, and PAUL BECKETT in New Delhi
Tata Motors Ltd., maker of the world's cheapest car, warned it is 
suspending construction of its Nano plant and reviewing possible plans 
to move manufacturing from eastern India in the face of violent protests 
from farmers and local politicians there.
AFP/Getty Images
Protesters last week outside the site of Tata's proposed manufacturing 
plant. The car maker said it may relocate construction of its Nano minicar.
It isn't clear whether the declaration by Tata, part of India's flagship 
industrial conglomerate, is more plan or threat. But the escalating 
conflict is the starkest sign yet of how rapid industrialization is 
clashing with skepticism toward modernization and the reach of big 
business into rural India.
It is a conflict being played out across the nation, as India strives to 
boost manufacturing to supplement slowing growth in its larger services 
industry. Tata's predicament has been the most closely watched, because 
the $2,500 Nano minicar has been touted around the world as 
revolutionary, and Tata is known as one of India's most powerful, yet 
socially responsible, employers. As a result, Tata's problems could send 
a discouraging message to big international companies interested in 
operating in India.
"This has happened to an Indian corporation, showing that it's not safe 
even in its own country," said Jigar Shah, a Mumbai-based senior vice 
president of Kim Eng Securities. "This is a very regrettable incident 
that is going to have a negative impact."
On Tuesday evening, Tata said it is "evaluating alternate options for 
manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities, and a detailed 
plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site is under 
preparation."
The statement left open the possibility that the company could stay if 
the impasse is resolved amicably -- an unlikely prospect, at present. 
Tata fell short of categorically stating it is withdrawing immediately, 
instead saying that because "there is no change in the volatile 
situation around the plant," it would suspend construction and look for 
alternatives. It did not provide a time frame for either resuming 
construction or moving the Nano plant.
It's a tiny car, costing less than $3,000 dollars and has become a hit 
in India. Tata Motors unveils its new mini-car, the Nano.
The plant is in Singur, in the eastern state of West Bengal, about 25 
miles from the city of Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta. Encouraged 
by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the party that runs the state 
and has been seeking to attract investment, Tata has invested about $345 
million in the plant and attracted about 60 suppliers to set up shop 
nearby to ensure that the car would start rolling off production lines 
in the last three months of this year. The plant and its suppliers are 
located on almost 1,000 acres of land that had been purchased from 
farmers. Construction on the plant began in January 2007, employing 
about 4,000 people at its peak.
In the past two weeks, protests by thousands of farmers and others 
opposed to the plant have seriously impeded the company's ability to 
operate. Construction work on the plant has been stalled since last 
Thursday. International consultants hired by Tata have left to avoid 
intimidation, the company said. And Tata is struggling to persuade 
senior managers to relocate to work in the plant.
Thousands of protesters gathered Tuesday on the highway in front of the 
sprawling complex, waving flags and signs reading "Nano Destroying the 
Farmer No No." Policemen watched from within the factory grounds.
Behind the protests is Mamata Banerjee, a firebrand politician who has 
used the demonstrations and the massive publicity they have garnered to 
portray the Communists as insensitive to the interests of small farmers 
and local constituents. The leader of the Trinamool Congress, a rival 
state party, Ms. Banerjee has held nightly rallies at the manufacturing 
site. She is demanding the return of about 400 acres of the site, saying 
the land she wants returned was taken from farmers against their will. 
Tata denies it grabbed land from farmers.
The West Bengal government says that only a small minority of farmers 
were forced to leave, and that the others accepted compensation for the 
land when the government took it over for the plant.

"I fight for the downtrodden people," Ms. Banerjee said in an interview 
Tuesday. "Someone has to fight for them." She said she doesn't want to 
scare industry away from West Bengal, but warned that farmers can't be 
rolled over. "Industry should be safe, and agriculture should also be 
safe," she said.
Before Tata's announcement, Ms. Banerjee vowed to continue the protests. 
She celebrated the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with 
followers on the highway in front of the Tata plant, and said she would 
be there to celebrate the Indian fall holiday of Diwali, and Christmas 
as well.
A spokesman for the Communists in West Bengal, Anil Basu, said it was 
crucial for the state to attract companies such as Tata to provide jobs. 
"We have to go for rapid industrialization," he said. "There is huge 
demand for jobs and employment."
He said the Nano plant was projected to create close to 20,000 jobs: 
about 1,000 at Tata itself, about 7,000 at parts makers, and about 
12,000 in businesses expected to sprout up around the site and its 
employees.
Tata representatives declined to say whether the furor would affect 
production schedules for the Nano, nor did they estimate how much Tata 
stands to lose if it were to move the plant to another of the company's 
manufacturing sites in India. It said it is exploring the possibility of 
absorbing workers hired in West Bengal at other sites.
Analysts said a withdrawal would be extremely costly and likely delay 
the Nano's launch.
"I think Tata will only be able to recover 10% to 20% of the investment 
if they decide to shift to another location," said Ambrish Mishra, auto 
analyst at brokerage firm MF Global. "It will be very negative for 
them...the launch of the Nano will be delayed by at least four to six 
months."
The salt-to-software Tata Group is based in Mumbai but has a huge 
presence in eastern India. Tata Tea is based in Kolkata, and the group 
is building a cancer hospital nearby. Tata Steel's main production 
facilities are in Jamshedpur, a city in the neighboring state of 
Jharkhand. Jamshedpur, where the group runs the schools, hospitals and 
even the police force, is known for its rosy relations between industry, 
its employees and the surrounding community.
"They have land in Jamshedpur -- why do they need mine?" asked 
Ramkrishna Koley, a farmer at the Singur protest who refused to take 
compensation but still lost his land to the Tata facility. "I don't want 
money. I want my land back."
Tata's factory was supposed to herald a new age of investment in West 
Bengal, where Kolkata, once the capital of British-ruled India, has 
fallen behind other cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad in 
attracting big-name businesses. The state's investment image took a big 
blow last year when a planned chemical complex in the town of Nandigram 
was abandoned after 14 protesters were killed by police. Mitsubishi 
Chemical Corp. of Japan is one of the few big international companies to 
have a plant in the state.
—Santanu Choudhury contributed to this article.






http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific_business/view/372893/1/.html

India protests halt construction of cheap car plant
Posted: 31 August 2008 1714 hrs

Mamata Banerjee, leader of India's Trinamool Congress party, addresses a 
mass protest at the factory

SINGUR, India: Thousands of Indians staged loud protests on Sunday 
outside a factory being built to produce the world's cheapest car, 
forcing a halt to construction work at the site, officials said.

A team of Japanese experts helping Tata Motors with the production of 
the 2,500-dollar Nano car returned home after demonstrators forced work 
on the factory to be suspended.

Protesters, who have demonstrated against the construction of the plant 
in West Bengal state for two months, say poor farmers were forcibly 
evicted to make way for the factory and want 400 acres (160 hectares) of 
land returned.

The government acquired about 1,000 acres for the plant, but activists 
insist only 600 acres are needed.

"The conditions are not conducive for resuming work at the Tata Motors 
small car factory," said West Bengal state industry minister Nirupam Sen.

"Six Japanese experts working in the plant have left because of the 
uncertainty," he told AFP.

The protests forced a shutdown on Friday, a day after police had to 
escort hundreds of workers from the factory as angry demonstrators 
blocked the exit.

Last week, Tata chief Ratan Tata warned he would move the plant out of 
the state if the protests kept up at Singur, on the outskirts of the 
state capital Kolkata. Tata Motors hopes to start selling the four-door 
Nano in October.






http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/india/2008/08/30/172530/Protest-halts.htm

Saturday, August 30, 2008 0:00 am TWN, Reuters
Protest halts Nano car work in east India
KOLKATA, India -- Work at a plant in eastern India that will make the 
Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car, stopped on Friday after 
thousands of employees failed to turn up for work following protests by 
farmers, officials said.
Tata Motors, which is setting up the plant to launch the 100,000-rupees 
(US$2,300) car, has faced violent protests and political opposition over 
the acquisition of farmland in Singur, an hour’s drive from the state 
capital Kolkata.
More than 3,600 employees were escorted by the police out of the Singur 
factory on Thursday after political activists and farmers threatened to 
assault them if they returned, officials said.
“Our workers are not working today,” a spokesperson for Tata Motors 
said. “We are assessing the situation as of now.”
Last week, Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata said he was prepared to move 
the plant from Singur if violence continued, despite having invested 
US$350 million in the project.
Workers were being intimidated on their way to the factory, some 
officials said.
Trouble began after the government took over 1,000 acres of farmland for 
the factory. The government offered compensation but some farmers 
refused it, demanding that at least 400 acres of land be given back to 
them.
The protests reflect a larger stand-off between industry in India and 
farmers unwilling to part with land in a country where two-thirds of the 
billion-plus population depend on agriculture.
Mamata Banerjee, leader of the opposition Trinamool Congress, which is 
spearheading the protests, has threatened to carry out road blockades on 
Friday to protest against the factory.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said he was ready for 
talks with farmers but could not return 400 acres of land, earmarked for 
ancillary units, as it would make the project unviable.
Tata Motors has since been flooded with offers from other states for the 
Nano plant.
Shares in the company were trading 3.91 percent up at 434 rupees in the 
Mumbai market.






http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i1NE0flHCbe647rE5V4jRZKxhIrA

India's cheap car plant remains shut
Aug 29, 2008
SINGUR, India (AFP) — Protests against a factory being built in eastern 
India to make the world's cheapest car forced work to halt for a second 
day Saturday as vehicle giant Tata Motors mulled abandoning the plant.
"There has been no improvement in the ground situation so far, hence the 
conditions are still not conducive for resuming work today," Tata Motors 
said in a statement.
"We continue to assess the situation closely" at the plant in Singur in 
the Marxist-ruled West Bengal state, said the company making the 
2,500-dollar compact car, known as the "Nano" and billed as the world's 
cheapest.
The protesters say poor farmers were forcibly evicted to make way for 
the factory and want 400 acres (160 hectares) returned. The government 
acquired 997 acres for the project but activists insist the project 
needs only 600 acres.
The halt to work came a week after Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata 
conglomerate, warned he would move the plant from the state if the 
protests kept up at Singur, on the outskirts of state capital Kolkata.
Tata Motors, India's top vehicle maker, was expected to make a decision 
soon on the fate of the plant in which the company has already invested 
350 million dollars.
At the company's general meeting in Kolkata earlier this month, Ratan 
Tata said, "We would move, whatever the cost, to protect our people."
"I can't bring our managers and their families to West Bengal if they 
are going to be beaten, if there is going to be violence constantly," 
said Ratan Tata, who conceived of the flagship project as a way to get 
India's masses off motorbikes and into cars.
The shutdown came after police had to escort hundreds of workers on 
Thursday from the factory when angry demonstrators blocked the exit.
Thousands of protesters yelled "Go back, go back," when some labourers 
reported for work on Saturday at the plant, which according to the 
government is 85 percent complete.
A court on Friday ordered security forces to clear the highway outside 
the plant that is the main thoroughfare for bringing supplies to Kolkata.
But protesters continued to block it, squatting on the road and holding 
placards saying "Give Back Our Land" as heavily armed police protected 
the factory gates. The road has been blocked for a week.
West Bengal police inspector general Raj Kanojia said the plant site had 
turned into a "sanitation hell with protesters relieving themselves 
along the boundary walls, eating and cooking their meals and dumping 
garbage."
The West Bengal government wooed the Tatas to set up the plant in the 
impoverished state to create jobs.
India's top business leaders have warned the country's global image as 
an investment destination could suffer a major setback if the 
tea-to-trucks group was forced to withdraw the small car project from 
West Bengal.
"If the House of Tatas can face such resistance, the much-needed fresh 
wave of industrialisation in the country could suffer," Sunil Mittal, 
chairman of India's largest mobile phone company Bharti Airtel, said in 
a statement.
West Bengal has been at the forefront of recent battles over land rights 
in India. The struggles have pitted the interests of farmers, who say 
they will starve without their land, against those of business and 
India's government, which say the country needs to industrialise rapidly.
Tata Motors hopes to start selling the four-door car in October.
But analysts say the demonstrations have put the target date for the 
debut of the snub-nosed car, whose innovative low-cost engineering has 
been hailed by industry watchers, under severe threat.





http://www.zeenews.com/States/2008-08-25/464258news.html

Trinamool’s protest chokes highway in West Bengal

Kolkata, Aug 25: The indefinite siege by West Bengal's opposition 
Trinamool Congress in front of the Tata Motors small car factory site in 
Singur Monday caused a traffic gridlock on the national highway and 
hampered the movement of vehicles entering the state.

"There's a huge traffic snarl on NH-2 because of the Trinamool Congress 
agitation. Several long distance vehicles coming from other states were 
diverted," Hooghly District Police Superintendent Rajiv Mishra said.

He said the entire Durgapur expressway in Hooghly district was clogged 
due to the siege.

"Many trucks had to stop before entering the district," Mishra said.

The Trinamool-led Krishijami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee (KJJRC), 
which opposed the takeover of farmland for the Tata project, had called 
for an indefinite protest at the Nano factory site from Sunday.

The protesters are demanding the return of 400 acres of land which they 
allege was forcibly taken from "unwilling farmers" to build ancillary 
industries adjacent to the Tata Motors' main plant.

A total of 997.11 acres was acquired for the project, of which 691.66 
acres belonged to farmers who gave their land willingly.

"We don't accept this claim that the traffic jam was caused because of 
our political programme. We are constantly allowing all emergency 
vehicles through the Durgapur expressway. But we would request people to 
kindly bear with us during this crucial point of our movement," senior 
Trinamool Congress leader Madan Mitra said.

He said the problem of Singur farmers, whose land was forcibly acquired 
by the state government, was much more critical than the troubled 
passengers who were stuck on the way.

Trinamool stir outside Tata Motors showroom

As the Trinamool Congress' dharna outside the Tata Motor's small car 
factory at Singur continues for the second day on Monday, party 
activists held a demonstration outside a Tata Motors showroom in Malda 
town.

Activists of the Malda unit of Trinamool Youth Congress held a 
demonstration outside the Tata Motors showroom in this north Bengal town 
here for around 45 minutes.

Malda district Trinamool Youth Congress president Ananta Chakraborty 
said that the demonstration had been peaceful.

The demonstration was lifted after police intervened.






http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Singur_Trinamool_protesters_force_workers_to_return_home/rssarticleshow/3417632.cms

Singur: Trinamool protesters force workers to return home
28 Aug 2008, 1639 hrs IST, PTI

KOLKATA- Work at Tata Motors plant in Singur almost came to a halt today 
with attendance dropping as workers who turned up for duty were 
allegedly threatened by the Trinamool Congress whose indefinite dharna 
entered the fifth day today.

Supporters of Trinamool Congress, which began the dharna on Sunday 
promising that it would be peaceful, allegedly threatened workers who 
turned up for work, forcing them to return, the police said.

Yesterday workers of an ancillary unit and a van-puller were assaulted 
allegedly by Trinamool supporters.

A Tata Motors spokesman said attendance of the contract workers today is 
less than 15 per cent than that of yesterday.

Before the dharna, the average attendance of contract workers was 
between 3600 and 4000, including both at the mother plant and vendor park.

Attendance by engineers also was very thin against an average of 85.

The agitators were also reported to be threatening factory employees 
staying in rented houses at Baidyabati, Dankuni and Serampore nearby.

Thousands of trucks remained stranded on the Durgapur Expressway running 
beside the dharna site.

Consignments of perishable goods, including egg, fish, vegetables and 
fruits, were rotting in the trucks.

Meanwhile, a report from Singur said, Trinamool Congress leaders have 
intervened and persuaded party supporters, who were preventing willing 
workers from entering the factory, not to do so.

Chief Secretary A K Deb said that the West Bengal government was trying 
to find a way to clear the blocked Durgapur Expressway. "We have to keep 
patience," he said.






http://www.voanews.com/bangla/archive/2008-08/2008-08-28-voa5.cfm?CFID=87527589&CFTOKEN=54335326

Opposition Protest in West Bengal Leaves Thousands of Trucks Stranded
By Goutam Gupta
Kolkata
28-August-2008
Gupta's report - Download (MP3)
Gupta's report - Listen to (MP3)
Bengal`s busiest highway remains blocked since Sunday after the 
opposition began its siege of the car factory.
This has left about 20,000 trucks stranded on the road with a large 
number of them carrying perishable goods. This will not only cause huge 
losses to truck-owners, but will also push up commodity prices. Yet the 
government is reluctant to intervene fearing violence.







http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article4602376.ece

August 25, 2008
Indian farmers' anger poses threat to launch of the Tata Nano

Local politicians have called for an indefinite siege of the factory and 
analysts fear the Nano launch will be delayed
Rhys Blakely
The high-profile launch of the world's cheapest car - the £1,250 Tata 
Nano - was in jeopardy last night after tens of thousands of protesters 
gathered at the factory being built to produce the vehicle, complaining 
that the land had been taken illegally from small farmers.
Demonstrators blocked roads leading to the plant at Singur, about 20 
miles from Calcutta in the northern Indian state of West Bengal. About 
4,000 riot police were drafted in to protect the factory, which is due 
to start producing the Nano this autumn. Security was tight and water 
cannons were on standby amid fears that the protests could turn violent.
Activists at Singur said that they would call off their protest only if 
the state government handed back about 400 acres to farmers - a move 
that could derail the Nano project.
Tensions in the area earmarked for the Nano factory have been simmering 
for two years amid allegations that the communist-led state government 
of West Bengal had seized land illegally from local small farmers.
Related Links
• Nano costs could leave Tata out of pocket
• Tata's little car makes big impact
Mamata Banerjee, the head of the main opposition Trinamool Congress 
party in West Bengal, called for an indefinite siege of the factory. 
Farmers have not accepted any compensation. Kajal Das, the wife of a 
farmer who lost land to the project, said: “We have gathered today to 
get back our land. Money cannot compensate our loss.”
The demonstrations threaten to ruin the commercial debut of the Nano, 
one of the most closely watched launches in the car industry in decades. 
At its unveiling in January, the Nano was lauded as marking a revolution 
in the industry, allowing millions in India's emerging middle classes to 
buy a car for the first time.
On Friday, Ratan Tata, the Tata chief executive, said that he was ready 
to abandon the Singur plant if the long-running series of demonstrations 
did not abate. Such a decision would involve the company writing off up 
to $350 million (£189 million) in investment.
Already there are fears that the car's ultra-low-cost business model 
could be scrambled by sharp increases in raw materials and that Tata 
will make heavy losses on the first batch of Nanos sold. Indian analysts 
forecast that Tata will need to produce nearly 400,000 Nanos a year to 
make a profit, well above a planned initial capacity of 250,000. Any 
delay to production capacity coming online, therefore, could prove 
hugely expensive for the conglomerate.
Tata has not commented on the margins that it expects to make on the 
Nano. It has said only that the car will be profitable over the long term.
The economics underpinning the Nano make it especially vulnerable to 
price movements in the commodity markets. Since Tata began to develop 
the Nano in 2003, raw material costs have increased from about 13 per 
cent to about 23 per cent of its price before taxes, according to an 
estimate by Global Insight, the consultants.
By contrast, raw materials account for about 7 per cent of the cost of 
an average American car - or about $1,600, up from about $800 five years 
ago.





http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL232408.htm

Farmers protest against Nano car in eastern India
25 Aug 2008 12:25:07 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Sujoy Dhar
KOLKATA, India, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Hundreds of angry farmers marched in 
eastern India on Monday to protest against a factory making what is 
billed as the world's cheapest car, one of several protests against 
farmland seizures, officials said.
Thousands of other protesters, mainly members of the Trinamool Congress, 
the main opposition party in communist-ruled West Bengal state, remained 
outside the Singur factory for a second day to protest against the project.
India's Tata Motors <TAMO.BO> is building the factory in West Bengal to 
roll out the Nano -- the $2,380, snub-nosed "people's car" -- but months 
of protests against acquisition of farmland have threatened the project.
Tata Motors head Ratan Tata has threatened to move the plant if violent 
protests continue and its scheduled launch in October could also be delayed.
"We will continue our stir till we get back our land," 70-year-old 
Laxman Das, a farmer who lost two acres (0.8 hectares) of land to the 
factory, told local television.
More than 2,500 police guarded the car plant.
The protests reflect a larger stand-off between industry in India and 
farmers unwilling to part with land in a country where two thirds of the 
billion-plus population depend on agriculture.
The Trinamool Congress has set up 21 camps to shelter protesters for 
days and refused to budge from its demands that 400 acres (160 hectares) 
of land be returned to farmers.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday invited 
Mamata Banerjee, chief of the Trinamool Congress, for another round of 
talks to settle the issue.
The government said it was impossible to return land to the farmers but 
it was willing to consider a proper rehabilitation package and even 
identify farmland for them.
On Monday, about 80 percent of the 4,000-odd employees turned up for 
work at the Singur factory, a Tata Motors spokesman said.
"I am confident everything will resolve and the car will roll out in 
October," said Sandipan Chakravortty, managing director of Tata Ryerson 
Ltd, a joint venture company owned by Tata Steel <TISC.BO> and Ryerson 
Inc of the United States.
Tata Ryerson is investing 1 billion rupees ($23 million) for a process 
steel unit in Singur.
For Tata Motors, India's top vehicle maker, the trouble started after 
the state's communist government took over farmland for the factory.
The state offered compensation in return, but some villagers refused to 
obey and are declining compensation. (Additional reporting by Tamajit 
Pain; Editing by Bappa Majumdar and Paul Tait)






http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=398550

Trinamool protest chokes highway in West Bengal
________________________________________

IANS Monday 25th August, 2008
The indefinite siege by West Bengal's opposition Trinamool Congress in 
front of the Tata Motors small car factory site in Singur Monday caused 
a traffic gridlock on the national highway and hampered the movement of 
vehicles entering the state.

'There's a huge traffic snarl on NH-2 because of the Trinamool Congress 
agitation. Several long distance vehicles coming from other states were 
diverted,' Hooghly district police superintendent Rajiv Mishra told IANS.

He said the entire Durgapur expressway in Hooghly district was clogged 
due to the siege.

'Many trucks had to stop before entering the district,' Mishra said.

The Trinamool-led Krishijami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee (KJJRC), 
which opposed the takeover of farmland for the Tata project, had called 
for an indefinite protest at the Nano factory site from Sunday.

The protesters are demanding the return of 400 acres of land which they 
allege was forcibly taken from 'unwilling farmers' to build ancillary 
industries adjacent to the Tata Motors' main plant.

A total of 997.11 acres was acquired for the project, of which 691.66 
acres belonged to farmers who gave their land willingly.

'We don't accept this claim that the traffic jam was caused because of 
our political programme. We are constantly allowing all emergency 
vehicles through the Durgapur expressway. But we would request people to 
kindly bear with us during this crucial point of our movement,' senior 
Trinamool Congress leader Madan Mitra said.

He said the problem of Singur farmers, whose land was forcibly acquired 
by the state government, was much more critical than the troubled 
passengers who were stuck on the way.






http://www.nzherald.co.nz/motoring/news/article.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=10528826&ref=rss

Protestors tell Tata - 'give us back our land'
8:27AM Monday Aug 25, 2008

Protestors block Calcutta-Delhi national highway during a peaceful 
sit-in-demonstration in front of Tata Motors small car factory at 
Singur. Photo / AP
CALCUTTA - Thousands of angry farmers protested outside a factory that 
manufactures the world's cheapest car in India's West Bengal state 
yesterday, to demand the return of land they say was taken from them 
without proper compensation.
The farmers claim that India's Tata Motors has not paid them proper 
compensation for the 997 acres (405 hectares) the company acquired in 
Singur, a village 20 miles (30 kilometres) northwest of Calcutta, the 
state capital.
The land is now the site of a factory producing the Nano automobile, 
which is scheduled to go on sale by the end of the year for US$2,500. 
Repeated protests, however, could delay the launch.
Nearly 3,000 armed police surrounded the factory Sunday as thousands of 
farmers gathered, but no violence had been reported.
"We have water cannons ready to cope with any eventuality," said the 
area's superintendent of police, Rajiv Mishra.
Protesters with posters, banners and flags lined both sides of the 
highway leading to the factory.
"We want our land back. Money cannot compensate our losses. We are 
farmers and we want to live by farming," said Bibekanada Das, a farmer 
who said he lost about two acres (less than a hectare) of land.
"The Tatas should bow down before people's power and return the land," 
Mamta Banerjee, chief of the opposition Trinamool Congress party, told 
reporters as she joined the protesters.
Banerjee's party has led the fight against Tata and last week called for 
the company to return 400 acres (160 hectares) of land to the farmers.
On Friday the chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata, threatened to move 
the factory out of West Bengal if the protests persist.
"If the state for any reason ... feels that we are exploiting them, if 
that is the feeling, we will exit," Tata told reporters in Calcutta.
"We can't operate the plant with police protection," he said, adding 
that protesters had attacked Tata employees and stolen equipment from 
the factory site.
Tata did not say when he would decide whether to leave the state, and 
did not address how the possible move would affect production of the Nano.
West Bengal has been the centre of a national debate about acquiring 
farmland for factories in India, where about two-thirds of the more than 
1 billion people live off agriculture.
The controversy came to a head last year when police gunned down 14 
protesters in Nandigram, a nearby district in West Bengal, causing an 
outcry that eventually scuttled a planned special economic zone designed 
to draw foreign investment.
Tata has the support of the Communist government that has ruled West 
Bengal for three decades, but a coalition of opposition parties has 
strongly fought the project because it opposes using fertile farmland 
for industry.
Tata Group, founded in 1868, is one of India's largest business 
conglomerates, with interests spanning steel, software services, hotels, 
chemicals and insurance.
- AP







http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=398385

Mamata kicks off indefinite protest at Singur
________________________________________

IANS Sunday 24th August, 2008
Opposition Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Sunday kicked off an 
indefinite protest by thousands near the Tata Motors small car factory 
site in Singur in West Bengal to demand return of 400 acres of farmland 
acquired for the project.

The Trinamool chief reached Singur at 2 p.m., accompanied by Samajwadi 
Party leader Amar Singh, social activist Medha Patkar, former Congress 
leader Soumen Mitra, Krishi Jami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee (Save 
Farmland Committee) Convenor Purnendu Bose and other political and 
social activists.

Banerjee appealed to the protesters to abstain from any violence.

'I would like to request all of you to abstain from any violence. This 
agitation is for the cause of common people,' she said.

Around 200,000 people were expected to join the demonstration organised 
mainly by the Trinamool Congress, said Becharam Manna, a farm leader. 
Security forces were deployed to prevent possible violence at Singur, 40 
km from here.

The Trinamool-led Krishijami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee, which 
opposes the takeover of farmland for the Tata project, has called for 
indefinite protests at the Nano factory site from Sunday.

The protesters want the Left Front government to return 400 acres of the 
total taken from what they say are 'unwilling farmers' to build 
ancillary industries adjacent to the main auto plant.

A total of 997.11 acre was acquired for the project, of which 691.66 
acre belong to farmers who have given their land willingly.

'I am going to express my solidarity with the people of Singur. The 
Tatas should not use their corporate power for wrong purposes,' Patkar said.

The protesters have set up 21 camps around the factory site.

Security arrangements have been tightened in and around Singur, said 
Inspector General of Police (law and order) Raj Kanojia.

'We have deployed around 3,000 policemen. But they will not do anything 
unless the situation arises,' said Rajiv Mishra, the Hooghly district 
police superintendent.

Tata Motors took up the project to build the small car factory in Singur 
two years back. Since then the firm has faced resistance from sections 
of the farmers and political parties over the farmland acquisition.

'We want our land back and we will continue to agitate till our demand 
is met,' said Laxman Das, a farmer in Singur.







http://andhracafe.com/index.php?m=show&id=36106

TATAs to face protests wherever they go : Patkar
Updated: 08-26-2008 Email this Page

HYDERABAD : Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar has warned that 
TATA’s would face protests wherever they goes. Referring to Singur 
imbroglio in West Bengal, she said the Tata Motors was welcome to shift 
its Nano project out of West Bengal.

However, she warned that the protest against the project would continue 
wherever it was proposed to be set up in agricultural lands. The project 
could come up in fallow lands as in the case of Hind Motors, she added
Inaugurating five-day dharna camp against SEZs being organized by the 
National Alliance of People’s Movement, of which she is the national 
convenor, she warned the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government that the NGOs 
across the country will begin an agitation if illegal acquisition of 
land for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Kakinada did not stop.
She said the Kakinada SEZ was just a beginning of the take over of the 
972 km long coast of the State. A whole corporate lobby, including the 
petrochemical and petroleum industry led by the Ambanis, had set its 
sight on the corridor.
She said the proposal to sell to the industry 1,500 acres of cultivable 
land near Kakinada had forced the NGOs to take up the cause of evacuees, 
most of whom were from Scheduled Castes. The corporates were shown undue 
and unconstitutional favours at the cost of land owners.
Patkar sought the intervention of Governor N.D. Tiwari in inclusion of 
805 villages of nine districts in Schedule V. She appealed to the 
Governor to invoke his constitutional powers to see that the demand 
which was pending for the last 28 years was met.