KOLKATA, March 17: Plans will be scrapped for an industrial zone in the Indian village where police shot dead 14 residents protesting its development, the ruling party of the state said on Saturday.

“There will be no SEZ (Special Economic Zone) in Nandigram,” said Biman Bose, West Bengal secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Protesters in Nandigram village, 120 kilometres south of Kolkata, were killed on Wednesday when police opened fire in the bloodiest demonstration yet against state government plans to buy land to set up the zones.

The announcement came after a state-wide one-day general strike on Friday protesting the killings in Nandigram where the government planned to set up a chemical industry hub backed by the Salim Group, an Indonesian conglomerate.

More than 50 people were injured in clashes and over 800 people detained as angry protesters tried to torch government offices and buses on Friday.

Police had been ordered by the government to break through the blockade at Nandigram which had been a no-go area for authorities since 11 people died in protests there against SEZs in January.

The unrest in January led the federal government to suspend plans for scores of such zones – privately run enclaves with world-class infrastructure and tax breaks to lure draw foreign investment.

The SEZs, planned nationwide, are seen as central to India’s drive to boost economic growth and draw foreign investment.

Police said on Wednesday they had fired in self-defence in Nandigram as thousands of demonstrators hurled stones and homemade bombs.

The latest violence has renewed debate over whether farmland should be used for industry in India, where some two-thirds of the billion-plus population live off agriculture.

Bose, after a meeting of the Left Front, a nine-party coalition, told reporters that the government would also withdraw police in phases from Nandigram, but gave no time frame.

All was quiet in Nandigram on Saturday, police said.

“Two police camps have been set up and security men have been asked to take all necessary measures for the protection of the villagers,” West Bengal police chief Raj Kanojia said.

The protests have piled pressure on the federal government to review its policy on SEZs, of which there are so far 14 in operation in India.

However federal Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said the government remained “absolutely” committed to the SEZs.

“Of course, the whole government is committed,” he told India’s CNN-IBN television network.

“But there’s the question of land acquisition which must be fair, it must be equitable, it must be at the right price,” he said.

“It must be inclusive of the people.” The minister added that if clearance for SEZs was not forthcoming, several countries might take their investment outside of India.“There is investment competitiveness from Thailand, from Philippines, from Indonesia. If FDI (foreign direct investment) is coming to our special economic zones it can also jolly well go to Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia,” he said.—AFP