Keeping locals happy

The JSW Steel group is planning a "model farm" spread over 290 acres at its project site in Salboni, West Medinipur. There would be some smaller projects also. The land was bought for a mega steel and power plant. But a downturn in steel and cancellation of coal blocks made the project unviable.

For JSW, it would be a corporate social responsibility project; for West Bengal, it would mean much more. State Chief Mamata Banerjee said the project would keep "locals happy" who, unlike the land losers in Singur, refused to take back the land when offered by JSW. "They want industry, jobs," she said.