Orissa took the lead in revamping its industrial policy and implemented the principle of value addition in minerals, that is, linking the grant of mining leases to downstream investments in the state for the processing of those minerals. This simple step has turned the tables completely. From being a non-starter in the investments race, it has surged to the country’s top spot in a few short years. Yes, this frantic scramble to invest in Orissa has been helped by buoyant international markets, but it has also been made possible by dramatic improvements in the state’s governance. No one today seriously questions the fact that Orissa has seen a transformation in its functioning, that its administration is much more transparent, and that a ‘case by case’ culture has given way to a ‘same rules for all’ approach.

And no one can credibly dispute that the turnaround is real. Witness the GDP growth rate. Orissa had been a perennial laggard (no wonder, considering that its economic raison d’etre had been politically neutered for decades). Even in the late nineties, when India was already beginning to benefit from economic liberalisation, Orissa continued to trail behind. But last year, while the world cheered India’s GDP growth rate of 8 per cent, Orissa —possibly for the first time since the Mauryan empire — shot past the national average, registering a state GDP growth rate of 8.4 per cent.

It is in the midst of this that we are faced with the objections of those who oppose the ongoing rapid industrialisation of Orissa, primarily centered on the issue of land acquisition. This is an important issue and deserves serious examination. Orissa has rarely faced such objections before, for it has rarely had much development to object to. But with the influx of investors with a gold-rush mentality, there has been a matching influx of activists to stand in their way. Perhaps, as one commentator told me, this is a sign that Orissa is finally and truly coming on to the development map.

... contd.