Indian Billionaire Slammed For Shutting Down 2 Cement Plants

The Adani Group - owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, the world's third richest man - acquired two cement factories in Darlaghat, Himachal Pradesh, India, in September but soon ended up in a dispute with local transport unions over freight charges, Raghvendra Rao reported for BBC News.

Photo Insert: The Adani Group told the BBC that it wants "to continue its operations in both locations if it gets the necessary support from transporters."

In less than three months, the Adani Group said operations had become "unviable" because of the losses it was incurring due to "high transportation costs." The standoff has not just affected the 2,000-3,000 people who were directly employed by these plants, but also thousands of others.

"About 10,000-15,000 people are indirectly dependent on these plants, including truck operators, drivers, cleaners, [workers at] roadside eateries and vehicle repair garages," said RD Nazeem, the state's industries, and transport secretary.

Most of the truck operators used to be landowners who parted with their property so the cement factories could be built. "These are people who became landless and homeless because they gave their lands for these factories," Nazeem said.

Transport business in the area is dominated by local people, many of whom gave up their fertile farmlands when the plants were being constructed in the 1990s and only a few of them were hired.

They charged close to 11 rupees (13 cents; 11 pence) per ton of cement per kilometer, but the Adani group wants this to be reduced to six rupees. Transporters say the freight charges are fair because of rising fuel prices. The Adani Group told the BBC that it wants "to continue its operations in both locations if it gets the necessary support from transporters."

It added that it's "unfortunate" that "local transport unions don't allow other transporters to operate at competitive rates."

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