Still the Wild East

Consider how Tata Motors was hounded out of Singur; and the experience of sugar mill owners in Uttar Pradesh, who are the victims of political extortion year in and year out, sometimes under threat of arrest, Bansi Lal-style. The head of a southern business house confided some time ago how the powers that be in his state wanted a free 30 per cent stake in a new venture that the group wanted to set up. That story found an echo recently in Dayanidhi Maran’s alleged arm-twisting of C Sivasankaran to do a forced sale of Aircel to Maxis. Tata insiders talk of a similar experience when it came to the clearance of one of their projects. 

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