Religion, caste, political views, social and economic status and tension, business rivalry and family feuds are all forgotten when it comes to taking advantage of any opportunity to amass wealth for the people in the state. Gujarat is a state of entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. The support to the Modi government coming from even such an highly unlike person such as Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, the rector of the country’s most high-profile Islamic seminary, Dar ul Uloom, at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, tells it all. Of course, Mohammed Vastanvi’s praise for Gujarat’s Hindutva-freak CM cost the head of Dar ul Uloom his job as the matter did not go down well with the seminary management. Vastanvi remained proud of his Gujarat link.

“It is a dream of every Gujarati to become an employer,” former chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) V Kurien once told this writer. “That is why I had no problem in importing any number of managers and employees from other parts of the country to run the milk co-operatives. They (local Gujaratis) worship me for sparing them of these salaried jobs at Anand,” said the creator of the best-know Indian brand ever, Amul. Immigrant labour far outstrips the Gujarati workforce in both skilled and unskilled jobs in Gujarat. There is hardly any social tension on the issue despite the historical communal divide that gave Gujarat and its BJP government a bad name across the world. Ironically, both Gujarati Muslims and Hindus are together when it comes to supporting development and creating wealth for themselves. Many Gujarati Khoza muslims are known to even worship Lakshmi, the traditional Hindu Goddess of Wealth. Idol worshipping is banned in Islam.

This explained why the country’s leading business family scions, including brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Ratan Tata and Kumarmangalam Birla , eschewed their business rivalry and political philosophy to share the same platform with the Gujarat chief minister, the patron of the global investment summit which created a stir on the very first day by attracting fresh investment proposals worth a record Rs. 14,90,000 crore or US$325 billion. At the end of the event, the collective investment proposals topped the Rs. 20,00,000-crore ($439 billion) mark. Even if 50 per cent of these proposals see the light of the day, Gujarat will be richer than the rest of India’s 27 states combined. Gujaratis will not tolerate any political party which tries to stop industrial and development projects for any reason.

Fortunately, Gujarat politicians are fully aware of the local mood, of which they are an integral part as well. Even the state’s strong tribal population, called Bhil, swears by development. Maoists have failed to establish a support base in tribal areas of Gujarat. Many hard core environmentalists and social activists, mostly non-Gujaratis, failed to stop the giant Narmada dam project from becoming a reality, nearly two decades ago. The dam, which has displaced a large tribal population in the ares, has changed the agricultural and economic face of Gujarat. Not all parts of Gujarat are evenly developed. Life is tough at weather-unfriendly Kutch, Porbunder, hill and desert regions of Gujarat. But, that has not dampened the spirit of entrepreneurship in these regions.

Where entrepreneurs flock together can the bankers stay behind? The presence of top Indian and global business fraternities attracted some of the top local and international bankers at the summit to express their solidarity and exploit the lending or asset building opportunities by being part of these projects. The heavy weight projects included power generation, oil exploration and refining, renewable energy, ports and water infrastructure, tractors and earth movers, automobile, housing, healthcare and education. Among the leading groups and corporations proposing fresh investments in the state included General Motors of the USA, the Tatas, Mukesh Ambani’s RIL, Anil Ambani’s ADAG, the Aditya Birla group, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Construction, the Adani group and Larsen & Toubro.

It is true that entrepreneurs are a rare breed. Yet, there is a lot to learn from the way the average Gujarati looks at life. Gujaratis are successful professionals as well, especially in the fields of money and finance, investment banking, stock broking and international trading. Gujaratis attach self development a greater importance than social development. The logic is that if all or large sections of the people are individually doing well, collectively the society is bound to do well. The state must focus on the development of individuals first if it wants to develop the society. It is micro management before macro development, people before politics. This unique attitude to life helped Gujaratis become successful businessmen and professionals everywhere, not in Gujarat alone. Gujaratis are the most successful individual Asian immigrant entrepreneurial group in the USA. Collectively, they are like the Chinese and the Japanese, very supportive of each other. Yet they are a bunch of proud Indians, who make India proud before the global business community.

Historically, the Indian society as a whole has proved its outstanding entrepreneurial ability for centuries. Every Indian state and every Indian sub-culture have produced outstanding entrepreneurial talents. Unfortunately, they have rarely been nurtured and rewarded by political masters of the respective states and the nation. Businessmen are routinely branded as exploiters and bad. Politics are played with migrated workers with states hosting sons-of-the soil policy, encouraging clannish attitude in the management of all concerns at all levels, dividing the workforce for petty political gains rather than uniting them for better economic result, both at micro and macro levels.

In most other parts of India, politics are being played with development projects, which could change the life of individuals, the have-nots and the illiterate. Issues like land acquisition for projects, environment clearance, protection of tribal tradition, job reservation, etc. are holding back investments worth hundreds of billions of dollars in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa, all non-Congress governed states, encouraging political dogfights among parties and bloody Maoist-style movements backed by their urban mentors. In a politically-rotten atmosphere like this, the enthusiasm among Gujaratis about industrialization and economic development of their state and, more lately, the changing attitude of the people of Bihar towards development and rural empowerment provide new hope. It is like being able to breathe some fresh oxygen in an otherwise claustrophobic environment of power politics, rampant corruption, absence of ethical standards, and social chaos.

This is not to suggest that every state should emulate the Gujarati values and ways and its strong rightist attitude to life. The best lesson from Gujarat is what a political consensus on development can do to a state and its people. Politicians must eschew differences on issues relating to development. Mines can only come up where minerals are deposited. Tribal economy can be enriched if only it is allowed to become part of national economy. Tribal economy must be allowed to exploit its natural resources to create wealth for itself and its people. Housing, healthcare and education can’t prosper in isolation without the support of jobs and income creation. There are many potentially rich states in India, which can outshine even Gujarat in wealth generation, if only their political leaders join hands to fight for development and not fuel vandalism in their ranks, spill blood, burn settlements and kill poor people to drive development projects away, allowing the union government to play nasty partisan politics on high value projects in opposition-ruled states. (IPA Service)