In both cases, there were public disturbances, particularly the police firing in Nandigram on March 14, 2007, which killed 14 people. Nandigram faced a virtual civil war, which ended only when the project was abandoned.
At Singur, sporadic police firing led to some deaths and impoverishment of over 2,000 families who refused compensation but lost their land anyway. On September 2, a hostile local situation made Tata Motors suspend work at the site.
Both conflicts focused on the fact that land in West Bengal is hard to come by. But in reality, the people of the state are happy to offer their land directly to industry.
Image: Women protest against the Tata plant at Singur in West Bengal. | Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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