NANDIGRAM, A LITTLE-known corner of Bengal near the mouth of the Ganges River, suddenly entered the Indian nation’s consciousness in early 2007. The fertile land of Nandigram had been identified as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with a proposal to build a chemical plant there run by the Salim Group. The Salim Group is named after its founder Sudono Salim. In 1965, when former Indonesian military and political leader Suharto overthrew his predecessor Sukarno, Salim emerged as a crony who helped build his US$16 billion assets.
In the 1980s and 1990s, during Indonesia’s oil boom, Salim set up the ...
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