The results have been dramatic. Take, for example, Orissa. Earlier a perennial laggard in investment and economic development, it has had a stunning turnaround since implementing the policy of local value addition. More than Rs 20,000 crore is already invested, with Rs 400,000 crore in the pipeline. These numbers are not just significant, they represent a historic turning point. For the first time since Independence — in fact, in many centuries — Orissa’s annual GDP growth rate has started exceeding the national average.

To anyone who doubts the relevance of GDP growth rates to the aam aadmi, I can only point out the concurrent improvement in Orissa’s social development indices: sharp drops in infant mortality and child malnutrition, and rise in state government expenditure on rural infrastructure.

The mantra of value addition has also been taken up by other mineral-bearing states. The chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa have been working closely towards this. Karnataka, before its government gave way to president’s rule, also took similar steps. These states stand to benefit not just in monetary terms but also in the number of jobs created by insisting on local value addition. The historical damage caused to them by central planning cannot be undone, of course, but at least prospectively justice will be done.

Now, however, the empire has decided to strike back. Imperial Delhi, under the guise of the new National Mineral Policy, has decided to grab back the power of allocating mining leases without any prioritisation for local value addition. This campaign to turn the clock back on a decade of mining policy liberalisation has been conducted in astounding secrecy. To give just one example, the prime minister refused for months to meet the chief ministers of these five states to discuss the draft policy, until a showdown in Parliament compelled it last December. Thereafter, the chief ministers’ memorandum has only been given lip service without their recommendations being incorporated. Finally, in an era when most ministries post their draft legislation on their websites for public discussion, the exact wording of the proposed rules for value addition is not being shared with even these state governments (let alone the public).

... contd.