Tata Motors'' faces villages ire in W Bengal

Mumbai: Tata Motors' executives who came to survey the land around Singur in the Hoogly district of West Bengal for the proposed manufacturing site for the company's Rs1-lakh car project were greeted by agitating villagers apprehensive of losing their land to the project.

Tata Motors proposes to acquire around 1,000 acres of land for the new Rs1,000-crore auto project, announced last week.

A large group of angry villagers staged a demonstration and shouted slogans against Tata Motors and the West Begal Industrial Development Corporation officials, forcing the group to leave.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee downplayed the incident, saying "Nothing has happened".

Earlier in January this year, a protest by tribals in Kalinganagar, Orissa, against Tata Steel's proposed plant site turned violent, prompting police to open fire, in which around 21 tribals lost their lives.