Rising from the lush green paddy fields 40 kilometres from India's decrepit former colonial capital Calcutta, Tata Motors' flagship Nano car factory was expected to bring jobs and prosperity to a region little touched so far by the forces of globalisation now transforming other parts of India.

Instead, the high-profile plant in Singur - where Tata planned to produce the world's cheapest car for India and for export - foundered on resistance of farmers such as 55-year-old Prabhat Shi, who saw little role for himself in the industrial sector, and preferred to cling to time-tested ways of living.