Protests temporarily called off at Adani's south India port

The state government in Kerala accepted many of the original demands made by the protest groups, but did not heed to the two key ones - halting construction at the port, and a study with representation from fishing community - protest leader Fredy Solomon told Reuters. The decision to leave the protest shelter was taken after a discussion with the state government, Solomon added.

Protests were temporarily called off at Adani's Vizhinjam seaport in the southern Indian state of Kerala after more than four months of agitation, a protest leader said on Tuesday, but demands to halt port construction were not met. Construction by the Adani Group at the port had been halted because of objections from a mostly Christian fishing community, who said the port was causing erosion that undermined their livelihoods and called for a complete halt on the construction.

Adani Group, led by Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, and the Kerala government, which is shouldering two-thirds of the project cost with the federal government, have denied such accusations. Clashes between police and protesters in November injured more than 100 people, including 64 police officers. The state government in Kerala accepted many of the original demands made by the protest groups, but did not heed to the two key ones - halting construction at the port, and a study with representation from fishing community - protest leader Fredy Solomon told Reuters.

The decision to leave the protest shelter was taken after a discussion with the state government, Solomon added. Adani Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.