A Chinese company in India left stumbling over a cultural divide

SHINDE, GUJARAT: When a Chinese truck company wanted to open a factory in India, its president looked at sites that had a mountain in back and a river in front — auspicious according to feng shui.

The company, Beiqi Foton Motor, found a seemingly ideal spot — 250 acres of farmland in this Gujarat village. Foton wants another 1,250 acres nearby to build an industrial park.

But the mountain is considered sacred. For at least 2,000 years, the cliffside caves have been home to monks, and one saint is said to have attained a pure vision of god in the 17th century, while meditating in the highest cave overlooking what is now Foton’s site.

The culture clash was immediate. The monks do not want a noisy neighbour.

“In today’s life, spirituality and science are both important, and neither should deny the other,” said Kailash Nemade, a monk, said. “But this factory should not come here, because it will ruin the spirituality of the mountain.”

Chinese companies, on ambitious overseas expansion efforts, lack the experience of Western counterparts, and are having to deal with a wave of resistance.

In Africa, workers at Chineserun oil fields and copper mines have gone on strike over low pay and dangerous working conditions. The Myanmar government halted China’s construction of a hydroelectric dam after protests over environmental damage. In Nicaragua, residents have resisted the planned resettlement of villages to make way for a canal proposed by a Chinese businessman.

Foton’s Indian experience provides a look into the internal struggle that countries face.

India desperately needs outside investment to support the 13 million young people entering its labour force every year. Factories within a few miles of Foton’s site have created thousands of jobs.

Foton defends its plans. The company says that its plant and supplier park will create a much-needed economic boost. “Because of these projects, the employment of thousands of people, even tens of thousands, will be accomplished,” said Zhao Jingguang, Foton’s executive vice-president.

But in Shinde, speculators have bid up the price of land, expecting that the state government will buy it and lease it to Foton, while many villagers are opposed to selling.

Kaluram Kendale, who grows onions and raises buffaloes, is upset that the state government forced him to sell five of the 12 acres his family farmed. “If I sell the land, it’s one-time money,” he said. “But my land is beautiful, it’s fertile, and it’s a permanent source of income for my family.”

Chhaya Shinde, who grew up in a mud-walled sharecropper’s cabin with dirt floors, was a star student in her school and dreamed of becoming a social worker to help the elderly.

Shinde’s education ended after Foton came to town.her father, a millet farmer, lost much of his income. Shinde had to drop out of school a year ago.

Zhao of Foton said the company hoped to start building the factory by early next year. The first vehicle most likely will not roll off the factory line until at least 2017. But a civil servant in Mumbai could ultimately derail the project.

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corp has to approve the deal. And its chief executive, Bhushan Gagrani, has resisted citing a dearth of farmland and earlier disputes. He wants to steer the supplier park farther inland, where unemployment is more acute and land abundant

But those sites would require supply trucks to haul parts for several hours. Foton, Gagran said, did not even to look at them

Foxconn, the Taiwanese con tract manufacturer, has decided to build a mobile phone factory nearby. It negotiated directly with the state government.

“Any land left,” Gagrani said “we are giving to Foxconn.”