Narendra Modi: Big hit with America Inc; persona non grata in US
Narendra Modi: Big hit with America Inc; persona non grata in US
Author: Binoy Prabhakar
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: May 30, 2011
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-trends/narendra-modi-big-hit-with-america-inc-persona-non-grata-in-us/articleshow/8641430.cms
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has been
trying to wriggle out of what he believes is the Godhra straightjacket for
nearly a decade. But try as he might, his links with the 2002 riots that killed
hundreds of people after a coach of the Sabarmati Express train was burnt
in the city of Godhra reappears like a nervous tic intermittently. Last week
happened to be the latest such instance.
The US Commission on International Religious
Freedom, a government watchdog, has again demanded that the US government
urge its Indian counterpart to ensure that efforts to bring a case against
Modi for his complicity in the 2002 Gujarat riots "are allowed to proceed
in accordance with the law".
It was six summers ago that the US revoked
Modi's visa on grounds of religious intolerance. In its 2011 report, the watchdog
has again urged US authorities to develop a lookout list of foreigners "who
are inadmissible to the United States on this basis of violations of religious
freedom".
But while Modi remains persona non grata in
the US since 2005, a phalanx of businessmen from America has been descending
on his home state. Gujarat has turned into an investment magnet for US businesses,
much like their counterparts in India, which view him with rose-tinted glasses.
"Of US-India Business Council's 400 member-companies, as many as 200
of them are present in some shape or form in Gujarat," says Ron Somers,
president of the influential American trade group.
The US also dominated the Vibrant Gujarat
Global Investors Meet in January, sending 26 delegations made up of 156 representatives.
US companies signed MoUs for investments worth Rs 13, 574 crore during the
meet in sectors as diverse as pharmaceuticals and tourism, according to the
Industrial Extension Bureau, a government-run body that looks to promote investments
in the state. Modi deserves the credit, say US entrepreneurs, because he has
almost single-handedly made it easy to do business in Gujarat.
"A CEO-stale of management seems to have
energised the bureaucracy. Once the green-light is given on a project, officers
are fully empowered to implement the project," says Somers. It is not
clear what Modi thinks of the divisive views about him by Americans or whether
he wishes to visit the US. He declined to comment for this story. American
CEOs say Gujarat is the place to be for businesses.
Besides removing red tape and improving infrastructure,
one big reason is the state's successful stab at weeding out corruption. Here
too, credit is due to the chief minister. Modi's alleged autocratic functioning
has helped the efficient hand overtake the greased palm, say people familiar
with his government.
Modi Magnet
MoUs signed with US companies at the Vibrant
Gujrat Summit
Sectoer
Propose Investment (Rs. Crore)
Propose Employment
Agro & Food Processing
167
1,020
Tourism
1,10
2,210
Urban Development
3,080
5,450
IT
5,292
14,330
Mineral
2,000
1,000
Healthcare
630
6,600
Education
170
600
Pharma
375
1,225
Petrochem
250
140
Renewable Power
500
125
Total
13,574
32,600
Companies do not have to pay bribes for approvals
because the CM is watching, they say, adding that he has taken the IAS lobby
to task on petty corruption. Gujarat, says a senior bureaucrat, has an administrative
model where targets are met and action is taken against complaints. "Success
is breeding success.
My sense is that officers in the state are inspired
by this approach," says Somers. He says Modi has a tireless, indefatigable
commitment to build infrastructure in the state that makes him stand out from
the rest of India's politicians. The wave of changes that Modi is credited with
hasn't gone unnoticed by companies. Tata Motors relocated its Nano factory to
Sanand in Gujarat from Singur in West Bengal.
Energy powerhouses Royal Dutch Shell and Total
have opened a LNG terminal in Hazira. Canada's Bombardier built a manufacturing
plant in Savli while Gujarat-based Torrent Power has a power plant in Surat.
DuPont, General Motors, Hitachi and a raft of other foreign and Indian companies
have invested in the state.
In recent years, scores of businessmen like
Somers have been singing Modi's hosannas. For his part, the BJP leader has been
careful to tend to a businessfriendly image in the US. He hired a Washington
public relations firm APCO Worldwide to woo businesses in 2009, a year after
there were unconfirmed reports that he applied for a US visa.
"APCO's role is to assist the government
of Gujarat in its investment outreach globally. The United States is a key target
and several APCO staff in the US work on the account," says APCO India
managing director Sukanti Ghosh. The agency's representatives have answered
on Modi's behalf to foreign publications, but Ghosh dodged all questions on
the CM. Asked on the perception of Modi in the US, Ghosh says, "We can
confirm that the Vibrant Gujarat summit saw considerable interest from US companies
and representatives of the US government and US India Business Council."
Ghosh also had no comment on Modi's persona
non grata status in the US. A more forthcoming response on what the US government
thinks of Modi came from the consul general of the US, Paul Folmsbee.
There are no plans to call Modi to his country,
said Folmsbee during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. A report on Human Rights Practices
by the US department of state last year took note of the concern of civil society
activists "about the Gujarat government's failure to arrest those responsible
for communal violence in 2002".
But as their growing numbers in Gujarat show,
US businesses, borrowing a page from the playbook of their Indian counterparts,
are willing to overlook those alleged flaws. "If you are looking at investing
in India, Gujarat is a stand-out, welcoming destination," says Somers.