Jindal Steel is acquiring thousands of acres for its 10-million-tonne steel plant in West Midnapore district, while Bhushan Steel is happy with the ease with which villagers are giving up land for its five-million tonne steel plant at Salanpur near the Bihar border.
Videocon is also thrilled with the co-operation from villagers eager to give up their land for its steel and power complex at Asansol, 130 km from Kolkata. Even smaller investors like the Sonthalia group, which picked up several 60-70 acre plots for its notified SEZs, are happy.
Despite the ongoing protests in Singur, investors in the state appear to be in a race to outdo each other in compensation packages.
For example, Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited, the Changi Airport-aided builder of the state's only private airport and a related economic zone at Durgapur, 160 km from Kolkata, indicated it would pay Rs 7.5-10 lakh (Rs 750,000-1 million) per acre for the 3,500-odd acres it intended to acquire.
Image: Videocon boss Venugpoal Dhoot. | Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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