Sidhartha Varadarajan: Narendra Modi is on the cusp of power not because India is becoming more communal but because the Indian corporate sector is becoming more impatient

And yet, Modi’s rise and rise has less to do with his Hindutva credentials and appeal than his secular critics would like to believe. Modi is where he is today – on the cusp of power — not because the country is becoming more communal but because the Indian corporate sector is becoming more impatient. Every opinion poll that shows him inching towards power sets off a bull run on the Bombay Stock Exchange. In a recent dispatch for the Financial Times, James Crabtree noted the exceptional gains notched up by Adani Enterprises – the company’s share price has shot up by more than 45 per cent over the past month compared to the 7 per cent rise registered by the Sensex. One reason, an equities analyst told the FT, is that investors expect a government headed by Modi to allow Adani to expand his crucial Mundra port despite the environmental complications involved. “So the market is saying that, beyond the simple proximity of Mr Adani and Mr Modi, these clearances may no longer be so hard to get under a BJP regime,” the analyst is quoted as saying.

The word ‘clearances’ sounds benign but what it really signifies is Modi’s willingness to accommodate the desire of capital to expand in any way it wants – horizontally, across land and field, vertically, above and below the earth, and laterally, in terms of accommodating the demands of foreign investors, including for the opening up of the insurance and retail sectors. And if environmental rules, livelihoods, farmsteads or community interests intervene, they must perforce make way with the vigorous backing and assistance of the government. It is this promise of ‘decisiveness’ that has made Modi such an attractive proposition for Indian – and global — big business today.

http://svaradarajan.com/2014/03/27/the-cult-of-cronyism/

What Varadarajan is saying is that Modi will give away Indian natural resources to Big Business for peanuts in return for their financial support for his leadership.

Rash,

But it is never because sonia, mms, rahul and diggy screwd up and did not know how to run a country and how to be honest and how to communicate with people. 

It is because Indian people became communal and anti secular.

I have to say Varadarajan's analysis of the current political scenario in India is the most brilliant and illuminating I have come across in a long time.

Rash,

I know you do not have the ability to answer this question.  But Varadarajan is not saying congress is doing any sensible service to indian people and corporate greed is seeking an alternate govt. What he was saying indian corporates supported congress in 2004 and got some results. but they were disappointed later and looked for an alternate leader.  Did Congress complain about them in 2004? did it reject their money in 2004 or 2009? Did not push jaipal reddy out of gas ministry to please Ambani? 

So what corporates are doing is taking care of their business.  Congress failed. so they find modi.

truthbetold wrote:Rash,

I know you do not have the ability to answer this question.  But Varadarajan is not saying congress is doing any sensible service to indian people and corporate greed is seeking an alternate govt. What he was saying indian corporates supported congress in 2004 and got some results. but they were disappointed later and looked for an alternate leader.  Did Congress complain about them in 2004? did it reject their money in 2004 or 2009? Did not push jaipal reddy out of gas ministry to please Ambani? 

So what corporates are doing is taking care of their business.  Congress failed. so they find modi.

One of the things Varadarajan is saying is that corruption will increase under a Modi govt. Sure, corporate India would benefit under a Modi govt, but what of the common man? Would the common man benefit under a Modi govt? The answer is NO.

And if there were any protests against corruption or anything else if Modi were to be the PM, then such protests would be crushed by playing the Hindutva card.

Rash, 

corruption will increase compared to what? 2g, coal scam, CWG etc. Did he mention them? He wrote lot of opinion as analysis.

truthbetold wrote:Rash, 

corruption will increase compared to what? 2g, coal scam, CWG etc. Did he mention them? He wrote lot of opinion as analysis.

That is correct. The Modi govt will be more corrupt than the Congress govt. We will see many more instances of this:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/bench-raps-gujarat-minister-for-violation-of-rules/article5610564.ece

Varadarajan is known to have personal animosity towards Modi. You should take his views with a grain of salt.

Unfortunately for him, the CONartists won't be powerful after 2014. Is he planning on moving back to the US or.......... Venezuela?

Rashmun wrote:

truthbetold wrote:Rash, 

corruption will increase compared to what? 2g, coal scam, CWG etc. Did he mention them? He wrote lot of opinion as analysis.

That is correct. The Modi govt will be more corrupt than the Congress govt. We will see many more instances of this:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/bench-raps-gujarat-minister-for-violation-of-rules/article5610564.ece

So you think this is MAJOR corruption in all of 12 yr Modi rule in gujarat? Do you even know how much corruption and money looted diring just 5 years of DMK, ADMK, YSR, Yeddy, and just 10 years of CONGRESS rule at the center ?

Do you just know ??? compared to Modi's Major CORRUPTION in Gujarat, where do you rate the governments I listed.

Give it straight and dont be a coward giving a run around saying even Akbar and Birbal were corrupt.

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

Rashmun wrote:

truthbetold wrote:Rash, 

corruption will increase compared to what? 2g, coal scam, CWG etc. Did he mention them? He wrote lot of opinion as analysis.

That is correct. The Modi govt will be more corrupt than the Congress govt. We will see many more instances of this:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/bench-raps-gujarat-minister-for-violation-of-rules/article5610564.ece

So you think this is MAJOR corruption in all of 12 yr Modi rule in gujarat? Do you even know how much corruption and money looted diring just 5 years of DMK, ADMK, YSR, Yeddy, and just 10 years of CONGRESS rule at the center ?  

Do you just know ???  compared to Modi's Major CORRUPTION in Gujarat, where do you rate the governments I listed.

Give it straight and dont be a coward giving a run around  saying even Akbar and Birbal were corrupt.

The reference I gave is important because of the Supreme Court censure, not because of the corruption amount. But the fact is that Adanis, Ambanis, Tatas, et al are all clamoring for Modi because he is helping them in some way ( at the cost of the common man). Like giving away land to Big Business after evicting the farmers, or giving massive discounts for electricity consumption or gas consumption to Big Business.

In fact, given Gujarat’s penchant for big business, some might ask why Adani alone is being targeted. The short answer is that Adani is the only big businessman in Gujarat who has made his billions after Modi came to power. His turnover has grown 12-fold in the years under Modi’s reg­ime to Rs 35,881 crore. Over the past 10 years, the Adani group’s listed firms have shown staggering compounded annual growth of 21.7 per cent in sales and, even better, 37.1 per cent in profit after tax. “For a first-generation company, its growth is frankly quite astounding,” says somebody who has closely tracked the group as an analyst.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?289708

In return for this support, what did Adani get? Land, cheap land, and lots of it. Ahmedabad-based lawyer Anand Yagnik has been fighting cases in the Gujarat High Court and the Supreme Court against allocation of land given to the Adani group by the Modi government. Indeed, he has horror stories to recount—all land allocation to the Adani group after Modi came to power has been done at a price much lower than the Jantri price (arrived at after evaluation of land by the Gujarat revenue department). In case more than 10 acres of land is allocated to any party at a price lower than the Jantri, the power of clearing that allocation moves from the local collector to the state revenue secretary.

The revenue ministry was headed by Anandiben Patel, a close aide of Modi. According to Yagnik, all clearances to Adani were made at a swift pace—the group got land at prices ranging between Rs 1 to Rs 16 per square metre. This when land for industrial purposes in the area is worth Rs 200-300 per sq metre. In fact, Yagnik says that in the pre-Modi regime, the Adani group’s land holding was about 3,000 acres. In the Modi era, this has increased to about 2 lakh acres, of which 45,000 acres has been given by the state. Indeed, the group has stated before the commerce ministry and submissions before the courts that it has 45,000 acres of land only for the SEZ. The Mundra port stretches over 35-40 km of coastline (almost equivalent to the size of Mumbai)­—this was given to the group for about Rs 33 crore (when the Jantri value of the land was Rs 3,000 crore).

Yagnik adds that the Adani group also did large-scale dredging in the coastal areas to support its port. This new land was evaluated by the government and given to the company at thr­owaway prices. “The land was then sold by the Adanis to IOC, ONGC and other PSUs at rates of over Rs 600 per sq metre. The Adani group was also exempted from all stamp duties for the thousands of acres of land at the SEZ, making the magnitude of this state subsidy phenomenal,” concludes Yagnik.

The other big issue is the environment. At the showcase Mundra port, Adani has also run afoul of environmentalists for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone rules, illegally cle­aring mangroves and contaminating the water with inadequately treated waste water, leading to considerable damage to the coastal areas, alleges Dr Kanubhai Kalsariya, a former BJP MLA supporting the agitating fishermen living in the Navinal village within the Mundra SEZ. The fishing communities in the area fear the destruction of their traditional fishing grounds, even denial of access to it.

At the heart of all this is a disregard for the law. “Adani proceeded on construction of facilities at Mundra without the required environmental clearances—on the basis of an in-principle clearance given to part of the land in 2004. Adani’s land was approved in 2007,” says Suresh Mehta, ex-Gujarat CM who’s also had a stint as state industries minister.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?289708