Three, in the post-independence period there has been large-scale social and political consensus on the idea of development and progress. This consensus is best exemplified by the debates on the dam on the Narmada and the widespread acceptance of genetically modified seeds in cotton cultivation. Gujarat attained a political consensus on the idea of development. The middle-class Gujarat was unwilling and intolerant of any dissenting imagination on not only the question of dam but on the larger notion of development it embodied. It is this broad consensus that has allowed for a massive privatisation of ports, creation of industrial complexes and the new SEZs without sustained and significant opposition. The hearing space for alternative development models in Gujarat has diminished.

Four, the small traders and entrepreneurs in Gujarat do not always see the presence of large industrial corporations as a threat to their survival. They are willing to partner with the corporations as ancillary suppliers. Incidentally a third of the spare-parts suppliers of Nano are located in Rajkot. And when such partnership is not possible they do not shy away from competition with giant corporations. This is best illustrated by the fact that small traders in Ahmedabad and Rajkot created innovative strategies to meet the challenge posed by organised retail chains and shopping malls. Their success can be measured by the fact that Ahmedabad is now regarded as a graveyard of organised retail, with major corporations having been forced to downsize their operations and even close their iconic super-stores. A small time supplier of wafers and sandwiches to cinema halls of Rajkot grew in span of two decades in a family owned enterprise with a turn over of 500 crores. These success stories give confidence to small entrepreneurs to contend with corporations.

... contd.