As the deadlock over Singur and the Tata Nano plant rumbles on, much of the debate seems to be missing the point.
This week, Mukesh Ambani said a “fear psychosis is being created to slow down certain projects of national importance” and said industry should be encouraged to make such large investments.
But in the words of the old song by Ella Fitzgerald (and more recently Bananarama) “It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it”.
When I visited Singur back in February 2007, the government claimed that 95 percent of the 14,000 farmers on the affected land had voluntarily accepted an offer of compensation.
The government also claimed the land was not fertile, supporting just one crop a year, and said the compensation package was “exemplary”.
