A K Bhattacharya: A new breed of chief ministers

NEW DELHI DIARY

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi holds an annual meeting in Ahmedabad to invite companies to invest in his state. It is called Vibrant Gujarat. This year the meeting was hailed as a grand success. Over Rs 4 lakh crore of investments in projects located in different parts of Gujarat were tied up at this meeting. Even if half of these projects materialise in the next two-three years, Gujarat will have managed to maintain its lead among the industrialised states.

This year's meeting was special for Narendra Modi for a different reason. It seemed Indian industry had finally decided to cast away its reservations about Mr Modi. The Gujarat riots in 2002 had tarnished Mr Modi's image. Several industry leaders made public their disenchantment with him and his governance style. It is true that a few industry organisations had made a tactical compromise when Mr Modi reacted adversely to industry's unhappiness over his and his administration's role in the riots. But, on the whole, industry's general approach to Gujarat was coloured by what Mr Modi did or did not do during that communal carnage.

It is significant to note that the changed industry tone at the Vibrant Gujarat meeting this year was set by none else than Ratan Tata. "It's stupid not to be in Gujarat", announced Mr Tata at the start of the conference. The announcements by industry leaders committing crores of rupees by way of investment in projects in Gujarat followed in quick succession. Mr Modi and his advisors in the state government heaved a sigh of relief. Indian industry's move to ostracise Gujarat had been aborted before it could start hitting the state's plans to speed up industrialisation.

Moving on to the east, somewhat similar developments have taken place in West Bengal. Indian industry had long given up the state as an investment option. Jyoti Basu as its chief minister tried very hard to regain industry's confidence. He did manage to get some investments. But all through his more than two decades of tenure as chief minister, Mr Basu was mostly consumed by the trials and tribulations of setting up a petrochemicals complex in Haldia and a power project at Bakreswar. The rest of his time was spent fighting the Centre and debating how the latter's step-motherly treatment had deprived Bengal of its due place in India's industrial map.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Mr Basu's successor, has managed to substantially change that perception. Once again, Ratan Tata helped make that difference. Of course, Mr Bhattacharjee has been inviting every industrialist in the country to invest in West Bengal with the assurance that the days of militant trade unionism are over and that the state now enjoys a relatively stable and trouble-free industrial relations environment. He has even roped in the Salem group of Indonesia to invest in a special economic zone in the state. But what clinched the issue was the Tatas' decision to set up its small car project in West Bengal.

There are many controversies around this project. But the manner in which Mr Bhattacharjee has dealt with them shows how focused and determined he is on his goal of speeding up the process of industrialisation in West Bengal.

Mr Tata's decision to stay committed to its investment at Singur has certainly helped. And now with the CPI-M general secretary, Prakash Karat, endorsing the path of industrialisation chosen by West Bengal, Mr Bhattacharjee should heave a sigh of relief in the hope that he is now all set to move ahead even faster in attracting more investment for the state.

In Bhubaneswar, Navin Patnaik is also dreaming of an Orissa that will grow faster on the back of huge industrial investments. Without seeking recourse to any road-shows to attract investments (like his counterpart in West Bengal) or to conferences like Vibrant Gujarat, Mr Patnaik already claims to have got investment commitments valued at over Rs 4 lakh crore. This is a creditable record for any government.

There are controversies in Orissa too (don't forget the Kalinganagar episode where local people got killed over the question of rehabilitating displaced people). But Mr Patnaik is also among the first chief ministers to have come out with a policy on rehabilitating people displaced while setting up industrial projects. The Tatas, the Mittals and the Korean giant, Posco, are all in Orissa. Mr Patnaik may not appear to be an aggressive chief minister wooing investments for his state. But his soft approach has helped him get investments and create jobs for his people with as much speed and efficiency as Narendra Modi and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee""without perhaps creating as much noise.

What we are seeing here is a new breed of chief ministers. They may be controversial. But each of them is sharply focused on getting more investments for his state. The yardstick for measuring the performance of chief ministers has also changed. Gone are the days when chief ministers were better known for inaugurating poverty alleviation programmes or newly constructed roads, bridges and schools.

Today, most chief ministers recognise that they have to be at the forefront to lead the campaign to get more investments, create more jobs and boost growth. Ideology is less of an issue. Even Nitish Kumar in Bihar is looking at more investments in his state. There may be some laggards. But all of them recognise the changing paradigm. If the Indian economy has to sustain an 8 per cent plus growth rate, the country indeed needs more such chief ministers with a more business-like mindset.