This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/7622673.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Nano car factory row 'to resume' Tata seeking new sites for Nano
(about 3 hours later)
An oposition group in India's West Bengal state says it will resume protests that led to the suspension of work at a Tata Motors plant. The Indian firm Tata says it is actively looking for new sites at which to build the world's cheapest car.
This follows the collapse of an agreement between the group and the state government over the plant. Work at Tata's plant in West Bengal state has been suspended since the end of August in a row over land acquired from local farmers.
Under the accord, the state government promised to return some land at the plant site to local farmers. On Thursday the chief minister of the southern state of Karnataka said he had offered Tata 1,000 acres of land to build the car, called the Nano.
Tata Motors stopped work this month on the plant where it plans to build the Nano, the world's cheapest car. The Nano is due to be launched in October, but that could be delayed.
Separately, the government in the southern Indian state of Karnataka has offered 1,000 acres of land to Tata Motors to relocate the Nano car factory there. Compensation
Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant told reporters that the firm had taken no decision yet on the offer. Tata's patience appears to be running out. Work at its factory at Singur stopped more than three weeks ago, because of protests at the plant.
Under a recent agreement, the West Bengal government had agreed to return as much land as possible within the plant site outside Calcutta to "unwilling farmers" who were against the acquisition of their farms.
'Agitation'
The opposition groups, led by the Trinamul Congress party, agreed to the government's proposal to provide the rest from around the plant site.
Under the agreement, Tata Motors, India's biggest vehicle makers, would retain 650 acres of land for the plant. The ancillary factories for the plant will get the 290 acres allotted to them.
The agreement broke down on Thursday after the Trinamul Congress party said the government should return at least 300 acres of land to farmers from within the plant area.
Exclusive look at the Tata NanoExclusive look at the Tata Nano
But the state government said it could return only 70 acres from within the plant site. The rest, it says, has to be provided from outside it. Even though they have now been suspended, the company's managing director, Ravi Kant, has held talks with the chief minister of Karnataka, who has offered the company land to build the car.
"We will resume our agitation for getting back land for the farmers who lost it to the plant and want it back," said Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. After the meeting, Mr Kant said the company was actively looking for alternatives to its plant in West Bengal.
Tata Motors have not yet commented on the latest development. Tata's comments come as attempts to resolve the land dispute at Singur have broken down.
The West Bengal chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharyya said the protesters were "failing to understand the integrated nature" of the car plant. Local farmers are demanding the return of almost 300 acres of land, handed to Tata by the state government of West Bengal.
Economic zones The state government says this is not possible and has instead offered them increased compensation.
The state government has also announced a package to compensate farmers who have lost their land. The news that Tata is now looking elsewhere will come as a setback to the communist-led government of West Bengal.
Tata had faced violent protests and political opposition over the acquisition of farmland for the factory in Singur in the state of West Bengal. If the plant is moved, they fear that it will slow down industrialisation in what is one of India's poorest states.
Tata's owner, Ratan Tata, has said he will consider moving production of the Nano out of West Bengal if unrest around the plant continues. Others, however, say this dispute is part of a wider problem between India's growing industry - which needs land - and its farmers who are unwilling to give it up.
Tata plans to launch the Nano later this year, priced at about $2,500 (£1,370) from the plant in West Bengal. It may be some time yet before the world's cheapest car is seen on India's busy roads.
India's rapid industrialisation 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.