[WSF-Discuss] A Tentative Analysis of MoUs signed by the Chhattisgarh Government i the recent past wrt Maoist Insurgency and Salwa Judum in South Bastar
Sukla Sen
sukla.sen at gmail.com
Mon Mar 29 06:37:54 UTC 2010
Comments are most welcome on the brief note below so as to further our
understanding of the issues involved.
Sukla
Of all the MoUs listed here, I could locate only one in Dantewada
(Bailadila): Essar Steel Chhattisgarh Ltd., Hazira (2005
May 7).
Then in Bastar:
Navbharat Group of Companies Ltd (2003 September 8)
NMDC Limited, Hyderabad (2008 September 12)
Tata Steels Ltd., Mumbai in Lohandigunda (2005 April 6)
Only one is foreign company: Texas Power Generation (2005 May 22). The
location is not indicated.
Most of the companies are headquartered in Chhatisgarh itself. A few belong
to the state run NMDC.
To my understanding outside of Bastar and Dantewada the other areas which
these MoUs pertain to are by and large unaffected by insurgency and/or Salwa
Judum..
On Tata and Essar, here are the notes received from a researcher/journalist
friend on my FB:
Maureen Nandini Mitra <http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=724101665>
It's true that Tata isn't looking for land in the areas where Salwa Judum
is operating. They want land in Lohandiguda block of Bastar district for a
proposed five million tonne plant. My info is from 2006, so may be outdated.
Here's the deal from back then - they wanted 2,169 ha of prime, multi-crop
agricultural land from 12 villages in the blockfor its Rs 10,000-crore
project. The plant would also be pretty close to the famous Chitarkot falls
which would probably be affected by runoffs from the factory.
The company has been backed by state force here. Lots of allegations of
coercion, scare tactics, compromised media etc. For more info please refer
to my 2006 Down to Earth articlehttp://tinyurl.com/judum
Maureen Nandini Mitra <http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=724101665>
Essar plant was to come up on land taken from two villages - Dhurli and
Bhansi - about 30 km from Dantewada town. I was there at the public hearing
for the plant proposal at Dhurli. These are tribal villages, protected areas
- land can't be sold to non-tribals unless passed via vote at Gram Sabha
meetings/public hearings. The hearing was a farce controlled by district and
corporate officials and it was followed by fake, "planted" reports in local
newspapers. I've written about it in the same article that I posted the link
to earlier. Don't know what the update is right now. You should talk with
Subhranshu Choudhary, an independent journalist who writes about
Chhattisgarh. If you are intersted, I'll send you his email address.
As for the writing cookbook part - well, that's not happening anytime soon.
I do love cooking though. My journalistic work has been suffering ever since
I got to Berkeley. The media scene is pretty sad here as far as finding a
job is concerned. Trying to freelance but need to be more disciplined about
it
Apparently, Dhurli and Bhansi in Bailadila, which has an old iron ore mine
operating since , is close to an NMDC township in Bacheli. Apparently, again
free from insurgency. (Ref. <
http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/india/map/m2901905/bailadila.html>.)
Bailadila has a number of iron ore mines operated by the NMDC. The oldest
one since 1968 i.e. more than six decades back. (Ref.: <
http://www.nmdc.co.in/bailadia14.asp>.)
It is not certain if there is any MoU which pertain(s) to the 644 villages
cleared by Salwa Judum.
The list is received from a friend. On circulation to knowledgeable ones, no
one contradicted, at least as yet.
Sukla
*No.*
*Investor*
*Year of Signing *
*MoU*
*Village/Region*
*District*
*(proposed/*
*existing plants)*
*Amt. Invested*
* *
*(In Rs. Cr.)*
1.
Aarti Sponge & Power Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Siltara
Raipur
305
2.
ACC Limited, Durg
2007
(March 30)
Jamul
Durg
1800
3.
Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd.
2007
(April 6)
1200
4.
Adhunik Corporation Ltd., Kolkata
2008
(August 7)
Raipur
700
5.
Akshay Investment Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2003
(September 8)
Joratarai
Rajnandgaon
115
6.
Ambuja Cement Eastern Limited, Raipur
2006
(December 7)
Rawan
Raipur
850
7.
Anjani Steel Ltd., Allahabad
2007
(August 2)
Ujhalpur
Raigarh
410
2003
(July 17)
Ujhalpur
Raigarh
185
8.
API Ispat & Powertech Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Near IGC, Siltara
Raipur
1015
2005
(January 7)
158
9.
Aryan Ispat Power Pvt. Ltd., Bilaspur
2008
(August 7)
Bilaspur
593.98
10.
Athena Chhattisgarh Power Pvt. Ltd.
2008
(January 7)
5200
11.
Baldev Alloys Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Siltara
Raipur
430
12.
Bharat Aluminium Company
2002
(May 29)
Kartala
Korba
6,000
2007
(August 9)
8100
13.
Bhushan Power and Steel Limited
2007
(May 4)
Raigarh
5500
2007
(January 1)
14.
Century Cement, Raipur
2007
(March 30)
Baikunth
Raipur
109.6
15.
Chhattisgarh Electricity Company Ltd., Raipur
(now merged with Sarda)
2005
(January 7)
Siltara
Raipur
2010
16.
Chhattisgarh Steel & Power Ltd., Raipur
2005
(January 7)
Amjhar
Janjgir Champa
464.88
17.
Crest Steel & Power Pvt. Ltd., Durg
2008
(August 8)
IGC Borai
&
Joratarai
Durg
&
Rajnandgaon
1536
2005
(January 7)
116.5
18.
DB Power Electronics Pvt. Ltd.
2008
(January 7)
5280
19.
DCM Shriram Power Supply Ltd.
2007
(June 5)
2700
20.
Dheeru Powergen Pvt. Ltd.
2008
(January 7)
4000
21.
Electrosteel Casting Limited, Rajgangpur, Orissa
2007
(November 29)
Kawardha
1150
22.
Emami Paper Mills Ltd., Kolkata
2007
(March 30)
Raipur
1600
23.
Emco Energy Ltd.
2008
(July 2)
2400
24.
Essar Steel Chhattisgarh Ltd., Hazira
2005
(May 7)
Bailadila
Dantewada
7,000
25.
Godawari Power & Ispat Ltd., Raipur
2008
(January 7)
IGC, Siltara
Raipur
628
2008
(August 8)
1570
2004
(August 16)
493
26.
Grasim Industries Ltd., Raipur
2007
(March 30)
Raipur
1380
27.
HEG Limited, Durg
2007
(August 2)
Durg
280
28.
Hind Energy & Coal Benificiation (India) Pvt. Ltd., Bilaspur
2008
(October 3)
Janjgir Champa
505
29.
Ind Agro Synergy Ltd., Nagpur
2003
(March 5)
Kotmar
Raigarh
413
2006
(October 6)
960
30.
Jai Prakash Associates Ltd., New Delhi
2008
(August 7)
Raipur
1005
31.
Jai Shree Balaji Steel Pvt. Ltd., Durg
2008
(August 8)
IGC, Borai
Durg
1450
32.
Jain Energy Ltd.
2008
(February 4)
5000
33.
Jaiswals Neco Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 8)
IGC, Siltara
Raipur
2020
2008
(January 7)
418
34.
Jindal Organization, New Delhi
2001
(May 21)
Raigarh
1900
35.
Jindal Steel and Power Limited
2008
(August 8)
Raigarh
18300
2007
(May 4)
8000
2007
(March 30)
720
2005
(January 7)
2595
2002
(October 23)
11
36.
K. Energy Company Limited, Raipur
2008
(September 12)
Janjgir Champa
469
37.
K.P.Cement Manufacturing Co. Pvt. Ltd., Durg
2008
(August 7)
Deepak Nagar
Durg
325
38.
Kalindi Ispat Pvt. Ltd., Bilaspur
2009
(August 12)
Belpan
Bilaspur
39.
Kasturi Cement Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 7)
Raipur
150
40.
Khetan Sponge & Infrastructure Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Sarora
Raipur
209
41.
Lafarge India Private Limited
2006
(October 6)
Sonadih
Raipur
515
2007
(June 7)
947.5
42.
Maanheruka Cement Ltd, Kolkata
2008
(January 7)
Rajnandgaon
300
43.
Mahavir Global Coal Pvt. Ltd.
2007
(June 5)
2250
44.
Mahendra Sponge & Power Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2008
(October 1)
IGC, Siltara
Raipur
485
45.
Mangal Sponge & Steel Pvt. Ltd., Bilaspur
2007
(August 2)
Bilha
Bilaspur
140
46.
Mars Power & Steel Limited, Raipur
2009
(September 5)
Janjgir Champa
201
47.
Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd.
2007
(May 4)
Mandir Hasaud
&
Naharpali
Raipur
&
Raigarh
2087
2007
(March 3)
1400
48.
MSP Steel & Power Ltd., Kolkata
2008
(August 8)
Jamgaon
Raigarh
800
2007
(May 4)
850
49.
Nalwa Steel & Power Ltd., Raigarh
2008
(August 8)
Raigarh
3100
50.
Navbharat Group of Companies Ltd.
2003
(September 8)
Raikot
Bastar
1460
51.
NMDC Limited, Hyderabad
2008
(September 12)
Bastar
10,000
52.
Nova Iron & Steel Ltd., Bilaspur
2008
(August 8)
Bilaspur
606
53.
Prakash Industries Limited
2008
(September 12)
Janjgir Champa
2750
2007
(June 18)
2145
2005
(January 7)
1017
2008
(January 7)
Bilaspur
485
54.
Pushp Steel & Mining Pvt. Ltd., Delhi
2005
(January 7)
IGC, Borai
Durg
380
55.
R.L. Steel & Energy Ltd., New Delhi
2008
(August 8)
Raigarh
293
56.
Raipur Power & Steel Pvt. Ltd., Durg
2008
(August 8)
IGC, Borai
Durg
135
57.
Rajesh Strips Ltd., Raipur
2007
(January 16)
Raipur
320
58.
Rashmi Ispat Private Limited, Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Raipur
550
59.
Real Ispat Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Borjhara
Raipur
720
60.
Rungta Mines Ltd., Chaibasa (Jharkhand)
2007
(March 30)
Raipur
400
61.
S.K.S. Ispat Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Siltara
Raipur
3611
2008
(January 7)
680
2006
(October 6)
1175
2004
(August 16)
295.47
62.
S.K. Saraogi & Company Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata
2007
(August 2)
IGC, Siltara
Raipur
330
63.
Salasar Sponge & Power Ltd., Raigarh
2007
(May 4)
Gerwani
Raigarh
230.8
2005
(January 7)
287.51
64.
Sarda Energy & Minerals Ltd., Raipur (Raipur Alloys & Steel Ltd.)
2008
(January 7)
Janjgir Champa
550
2006
(October 6)
IGC, Siltara
Raipur
720
65.
Satya Power & Ispat Pvt. Ltd., Bilaspur
2008
(August 8)
Gatori
Bilaspur
376
66.
Satyarth Steel & Power (P) Ltd., Raipur
2005
(January 7)
Borjhara
Raipur
175
67.
Shanti G.D. Ispat & Power Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2008
(October 8)
550
68.
Shree Bajrang Power & Steel Ltd., Raipur
2003
(September 8)
Borjhara
Raipur
130
2006
(October 6)
1400
69.
Shree Cement Ltd.
2007
(April 6)
1000
70.
Shree Nakoda Ispat Ltd., Raipur
(*MoU entered into with Godawari wrt joint venture for coal)*
IGC, Siltara
Raipur
71.
Shree Radhe Industries Ltd., Bilaspur
2005
(January 7)
Bilaspur
232.5
72.
Shree Shayam Sponge & Power Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Chanderi
Raipur
205
73.
Shri Bajrang Metalics & Power Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 7)
Gondwana
Durg
735
2006
(December 21)
Hahaladdi
Raipur
109.41
74.
Shri Cement Limited, Bewar, Dist – Ajmer (Rajsthan)
2007
(June 7)
Raipur
1000
75.
Shyam Century Ifrastructure Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 7)
Janjgir Champa
550
76.
Singhal Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., Raigarh
2008
(October 1)
IGC, Taraimal
Raigarh
700
2007
(June 23)
500
77.
Singhal Steels Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2008
(January 7)
Patrapali
Raigarh
550
78.
Sky Alloys & Power Pvt. Ltd., Raipur
2009
(September 11)
Raigarh
270
79.
Solar Industries Limited, Nagpur
2008
(October 3)
Janjgir Champa
5487
80.
Sunil Sponge Iron Ltd. Kolkata
2003
(February 3)
IGC, Siltara
Raipur
105.11
81.
Superior Sponge Iron Pvt. Ltd. & Other Associate Companies
2003
(August 29)
Durg
330
82.
Surya Global Steel & Genpower Ltd., New Delhi
2008
(August 8)
Durg
3000
83.
Suryachakra Power Corpn. Ltd.
2008
(February 1)
1100
84.
Tata Steels Ltd., Mumbai
2005
(April 6)
Lohandigunda
Bastar
10,000
85.
Texas Power Generation
2005
(May 22)
5965 approx.
(1.28 billion US $)
86.
Topworth Steels Pvt. Ltd., Durg
2008
(January 7)
IGC, Borai
Durg
666.31
2007
(May 4)
1200
2005
(Janury 7)
129
87.
Ultratech Cement Ltd., Raipur
2008
(August 7)
Hirmi
Raipur
1100
88.
Vandana Global Ltd., Raipur
2007
(May 4)
IGC, Siltara
Raipur
1310
2004
(August 16)
426
89.
VISA Industries Ltd., Kolkata
2003
(March 5)
Raigarh
&
Korba
1015
90.
Visa Steel Limited,
Raipur
2008
(August 8)
Raigarh
4750
91.
Writers & Publishers Limited, Bhopal
(for an ‘integrated industrial hub’)
2008
(September 27)
Raipur (proposed)
10,000
Out of the 115 MoUs that the Chhatisgarh government has listed, only one is
not in any way concerned with mining/power- that of Chmoku Agro & Spices
Ltd., Bangalore (for a food park)
Also relevant:
This story below clearly and definitively shows up that the proposed still
mill of the Tatas has nothing to do with the 644 villages reportedly cleared
by Salwa Judum.
That's just a fable.
Quote
Yet five years after Tata Steel announced its plans for the mill, the
families of both men are still cultivating their ancestral fields. Officials
are struggling to complete the contentious land acquisition, with 20 percent
of the required 5,000 hectares still outstanding and a local civil rights
lawyer threatening legal action against the process. “I am going to
challenge it,” says Pratap Agrawal, an attorney in the nearby small town of
Jagdalpur.
Unquote
Jagdalpur is understandably in North Bastar, a region unaffected by either
Maoist insurgency or Salwa Judum.
Similar is the case with ESSAR as well, as it appears.
Though the ESSAR site is in South Bastar.
The story also once again effectively brings out the collusion between the
corrupt and highhanded state machinery and the business houses, on the one
hand, and gritty resistance by the locals, on the other, regardless of
Maoist insurgency.
Sukla
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=business_news&month=march2010&file=business_news2010031082019.xml
*India’s tribes pitted against corporations over land*
Web posted at: 3/10/2010 8:20:19
Source ::: FINANCIAL TIMES
Disputes over forcible purchases are raging across the nation, says Amy
Kazmin.
First, the land surveyors came. Then the rumours spread through the
villages: Tata, one of India’s biggest conglomerates, would build a steel
mill in the district. Finally government officials came to ask the villagers
in Lohandiguda in Chhattisgarh state, who are mainly illiterate farmers from
the Gond tribe, to relinquish their fields for the promise of cash, jobs and
a better future. For Banga Ram, the 65-year-old patriarch of a large family,
the request was absurd. “What will we do with the money?” he asked. “We have
to do agriculture to feed these children.”
But local officials were not taking No for an answer. Banga Ram was
arrested. After he spent 13 days in jail, he says his sons signed away the
land and accepted compensation. In nearby Chindgaon village, Sundar Kashyap,
who earns Rs10,000 ($219, €161, £146) a month working for the government
animal husbandry department, says his bosses warned him of trouble if his
younger brothers refused to sign over two of their five acres. They too
signed.
Yet five years after Tata Steel announced its plans for the mill, the
families of both men are still cultivating their ancestral fields. Officials
are struggling to complete the contentious land acquisition, with 20 percent
of the required 5,000 hectares still outstanding and a local civil rights
lawyer threatening legal action against the process. “I am going to
challenge it,” says Pratap Agrawal, an attorney in the nearby small town of
Jagdalpur.
“Villagers are absolutely against handing over even an inch of their land.”
Battles over forcible acquisition of agricultural land for industry are
raging across India. But nowhere are they as fraught as in India’s tribal
belt, where long-neglected indigenous animist tribes, known as adivasis,
have upset the plans of corporate groups such as Vedanta, Tata Steel, Essar
Steel and National Mineral Development Corp to tap mineral riches.
About 8.4 percent of India’s population are classified as adivasis, members
of hundreds of distinct tribes whose languages have no written form. Living
in severe poverty in remote areas with limited government services, tribal
communities have India’s lowest literacy rates and its highest incidence of
infant mortality and malnourished children. Ostensibly, tribal communities
have special legal protection to prevent them from being involuntarily
dispossessed of their land.
Yet critics say that pro-business government officials, who argue that mines
and other large-scale industries would bring economic development and
progress to neglected areas, are brazenly manipulating public consultation
processes and overriding community sentiments to take tribal lands.
“Indigenous people live in pre-industrial societies, so if the government
goes to acquire their land for mining or special economic zones, it’s a
matter of life and death for them,” says Prashant Bhushan, a prominent New
Delhi-based civil rights lawyer. “But all they have been doing is having
some sham formal consultation process in which the views of adivasis are not
seriously sought.”
These conflicts, which tend to pit India’s most neglected people against its
most powerful business houses, are helping to fuel the radical Naxalite
guerrilla movement in the tribal belt, now increasingly considered India’s
“Red Corridor”. “There are slogans on walls saying ‘Naxals come and save
us’,” says Arundhati Roy, the writer and social activist. “People are
begging them, ‘just come and train us’.” Among India’s most controversial
mining projects is the plan by UK-listed Vedanta to mine bauxite from a
mountain that the 2,800-strong Dongria Kondh tribe believe is its deity’s
sacred home.
In a recent report, Amnesty International, the human rights group, said
neither government officials nor Vedanta made any meaningful attempt to
inform the illiterate tribes near the site about the project but merely
published advertisements for a public hearing.
Vedanta, which says no one lives on the prospective mine site, says local
government offices were notified about the project and given a chance to
spread the word. India’s Supreme Court found all requirements were
fulfilled. “The Indian regulatory system is robust - it does not leave room
for anybody to take advantage,” says Mukesh Kumar, Vedanta Aluminium’s chief
operating officer.
However, the Church of England and several other social investors recently
sold their shareholdings in Vedanta, citing concern for the way the company
had handled its relations with local communities. In Lohandiguda, Tata Steel
says it has agreed to all but one of 13 conditions laid down by affected
villagers for selling their land. Besides cash, Tata says villagers will be
given “land for land”, skills training and the promise of a job to one
member of every affected household.
“I think that development is something that everyone, especially if it’s
brought by a company like Tata, would find acceptable,” says Sanjay Choudhry
of Tata Steel. He says the mechanics of the land-buying process are handled
by state authorities. “If and when they hand over the land, we will put up
the industry in the best way we can.”
Mapping out legal rights
Schedule V of India’s Constitution maps out customary tribal lands where
indigenous animist tribes are seen as requiring special protection against
the threat of exploitation and dispossession. In 1996, India adopted a law
requiring authorities to consult village councils before taking land in
tribal areas for development or industry. Civil rights lawyers say this
should be interpreted to require the consent of local communities.
India’s Supreme Court ruled in a 1997 judgment that Schedule V, combined
with laws in Andhra Pradesh, prohibited the transfer of tribal land there to
non-tribalsnon tribe members for a mining lease. It also suggested that 20
per cent of the profits from mining in tribal areas be set aside for
tribalstribe members. It urged New Delhi to clarify policies about mining in
tribal areasto ensure consistency across states. However, other states with
large tribal areas have said the judgment does not apply to them.
--
Peace Is Doable
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