India’s plan to become a manufacturing hub is beset by a host of problems. The Budget is expected to provide little succour.
Last year, Tata Steel started the first phase of its steel plant in Kalinganagar, Odisha. Spread over 3,741 acres, at full capacity, it will be India’s largest single-location greenfield steel plant. But what is more telling is that it is just one of the few greenfield steel plants to be built in India in the last 20 years. It sure did take some time coming.
Planned at a cost of `15,000 crore, it was to start in 2010, but got bogged down by an agitation by locals who claimed they owned a part of the land given to the company. After January 2, 2005, when 13 agitators were killed in police firing, the work stopped.
This took the company by surprise. Tata Steel had, after all, built Jamshedpur, then one of India’s most modern cities, around its steel plant. Surely, the plant would help Kalinganagar, it thought. However, the sense of injustice among the locals, who were offered just `37,000 an acre by the government in 1993, overrode everything.
“Till January 1, 2005, we thought the land was ours, as we had paid for it,” says Rajiv Kumar, Vice President, Operations, Kalinganagar project, in Tata Review, the Tata Group’s in-house magazine. “We did not foresee any problem. We had the Tata name, we had been in Odisha for 100 years, and we believed we had built social equity with the community. But some stakeholders did not see it that way, there were others who were fiercely opposed to us, there was local politics. We were just not aware of the factors at play,” he says.
The Tatas were being fed this bitter medicine at another place too. Around the same time, Tata Motors’ Nano project in West Bengal was facing a similar problem. Unlike Kalinganagar, though, it was resurrected at Sanand in Gujarat. Critics said Kalinganagar would meet the same fate.
This story is from the March 13, 2016 edition of Business Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 13, 2016 edition of Business Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Dark Side Of Gold Loans
There Has Been A Sharp Rise In Gold Loans In Recent Years. But There Is A Seedier Side To This, As Is Evident From The Red Flag The RBI Raised Recently. Will The Regulator's Move Protect Customers?
All That Glitters
The price of gold has been rising unabated. It has soared to more than 73,000 per 10 gm in 2024 from *31,000 in early 2018. Is the rally sustainable or is this a bubble?
"Hire for attitude, not ability"
Thryve Digital is a player in the healthcare technology sector delivering next-generation solutions
Road Warrior
For Khalid Wani, Senior Director of Sales at Western Digital India, life is much more than just the corner office. Biking across the world is one way he derives meaning for his life
WIDENING THE POOL
THERE HAS BEEN A JUMP IN INDIVIDUALS INVESTING DIRECTLY IN THE STOCK MARKETS, BUT MUMBAI AND AHMEDABAD STILL ACCOUNT FOR THE LION'S SHARE. THERE DEFINITELY IS SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT IN TERMS OF PENETRATION LEVELS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
CRISIS IN THE CLOUDS
INDIAN AVIATION IS IN CRISIS. AIRLINES ARE GRAPPLING WITH FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS, CREW SHORTAGES, AND COMPLAINTS ABOUT POOR SERVICE, ARE BLEEDING DUE TO RISING COSTS WILL THE FASTEST-GROWING AVIATION MARKET RECOVER?
"India should start privatising public sector banks"
Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, on growth, inequality, jobs, the banking sector, and more
"I LET MY WORK DO THE TALKING"
Megha Engineering & Infrastructures MD P.V. Krishna Reddy on being low profile, the infra opportunity and much more
"Core of insurance lies in long-term security"
Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO of HDFC Life, on the insurance provider's performance, surrender charges, and future innovations
Distress in the Books
Bandhan Bank, the brainchild of Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, has made the journey from an MFI to a bank, but with many hurdles. Now with his resignation as MD & CEO, is the lender staring at more uncertainty?