Stepping up his campaign for the Tata Group's proposed titanium project at Sattankulam in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said that even Nobel laureate Amartya Sen had opined that refusal to give farm lands for industries would cause "heavy loss".Quoting from Sen's interview to a daily, Karunanidhi said in a statement here that "Gross Domestic Production would not fall due to abandoning of agriculture. Industrialisation was necessary for the growth of economy and agriculture."Sen had said that those creating a crisis for industrialists and preventing them from buying lands were ignoring people's interests, Karunanidhi said.Sen had also said that industries had flourished in fertile lands and that the income from industrial production would be much more than that from agricultural products in the same area, the Chief Minister added.Reacting to suggestions that the government should come forward to set up the project, Karunanidhi said those giving such suggestions had not considered whether the government could invest Rs 2,300 crore immediately.Following stiff resistance from DMK's ally PMK and opposition by AIADMK and MDMK, besides a few local organisations, the Chief Minister had announced that the government would gather the views of local people and take a decision based on them.
