When Tata Motors first unveiled the Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car at the price of one lakh ($2,303), it quickly became the proud symbol for India’s coming of age as a manufacturing rival to China.

A few months down the road, the project has come to represent something quite different. Angry protesters are gathered outside the Nano plant to demand land and compensation for nearby farmers while supporters of the plant fight for the right to a better quality of life that new jobs promise to bring.