Consequently, Gujarat has created a model of diversified industrialisation which includes petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy, textiles, automobiles, ceramic, machine tools, brass parts, dairy, food processing, cash crop agriculture, salt and the diamond trade. With the exception of the eastern tribal belt of Gujarat the rest of the Gujarat, including the coastline has been converted into a large industrial complex. The political parties and the bureaucracy see themselves as facilitators of these industrial processes. It was for these reasons that Ratan Tata made his often-quoted statement: “If you are not in Gujarat, you are stupid.”

But as Gujarat celebrates the relocation of Nano it is necessary to remember that large-scale consensus in one area of our economic and social life can lead to a shrinking of the culture of plurality and dissenting imaginations. A political culture intolerant of dissent finally loses its innovativeness not only in the realm of politics but also in the realm of ideas. A mercantile capitalism that seeks the co-existence of small entrepreneurs with modern corporations is anchored in this multiplicity of competing ideas.

Dissent in the democratic realm also translates into innovativeness in business. The strength of Gujarati enterprise lies in this capacity to innovate, which is in no small measure a consequence of a plural culture.

The writer is a social scientist based in Ahmedabad