KOLKATA, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - India's Tata Group announced on Friday it was abandoning a plant in eastern India slated to turn out the world's cheapest car after weeks of violent demonstrations triggered by a land dispute.

'You cannot run a plant with police protection, you cannot run a plant when bombs are being thrown, you cannot run a plant when workers are being intimidated,' Tata Group chief Rata Tata told a news conference in Kolkata, capital of the Marxist-ruled state of West Bengal.