Trident's Punjab plans face heat

Farmers say govt helping company expand operations on Barnala land

The land earmarked for the Rs 1,000-crore Barnala-based Trident group in Barnala has become a subject of hot dispute.

Yesterday wheat harvesting in 376 acres at Fatehgarh Chhanna, Dhaula and Sangherra villages near Barnala by the Trident group angered farmers, who have been tilling the land for a decade. The land is meant for the group's proposed sugar mill and other expansion plans, which will give jobs to 5,000 workers in nearby villages.

According to farmers, the Punjab government has helped the private company in expanding its operations on the land.

Activists of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) and hundreds of farmers converged in Barnala to participate in anti-government protests (under the Jameen Bachao Morcha) against the arrest of 350 of the initially agitating 650 farmers, opposing the acquisition. One of the protesters, a 65-year-old ailing farmer, Sarmukh Singh from Jethuke village in Bathinda, died in captivity in Ludhiana on March 30.

Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, general secretary of the union, said on the phone, "The police action was undemocratic and the Congress government was giving undue advantages to the Trident group by uprooting people. We plan to hold a 'Jameen Bachao Conference' during the Baisakhi mela at Talwandi Sabo, besides taking out torch rallies in villages across the state."

"The issue had gone beyond one of compensation for people," he added.

The district administration has released 177 protesters on "humanitarian grounds", and another 63 are to be released today. "Three hundred and fifty farmers are still in jail and their judicial remand has been extended till April 15," said Barnala SSP Nageshwar Rao.

Speaking to Business Standard from Ludhiana, Rajendra Gupta, managing director of the Trident group, said, "We want peace and the area to be developed. Let the farmers sit across the table and amicably bring a solution to the current dispute."

The problem goes back to May last year, when the Punjab government, while facilitating the upcoming mega project of the Trident group, sent a notice to the farmers to vacate the land. Out of the 125 families only 5 farmers took the cheque. Depending on the land the company had given compensation varying form Rs 8 to Rs 10 lakh per acre.

The Trident group plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore over three years and will be giving employment to 5,000 people in the neighbouring villages in the first year, according to Gupta.

The investments have been earmarked for an upcoming sugar mill and a distillery with an investment of Rs 300 crore, expansion of a power plant from 12 Mw to 40 Mw, Rs 800 crore investments in a paper mill and another Rs 400 crore input into a textile unit.

According to Gupta the land acquired directly by the company was purchased 40 per cent less than the acquisition price. "If all goes well, by September or October 2006, the spinning plant will be operational and work on power and paper project will begin."