Fractured/Earth

Reportage on a planet without equitable or sustainable development.

A Journalistic History of the Adani Group

What would a brief history of India Inc look like?

At the time of independence, India’s private sector was dominated by a clutch of business families.

Their reign continued into the license raj years – and then was challenged by newcomers like Dhirubhai Ambani. In the 1990s, the country saw the flowering of a new generation of companies. These were the post-liberalisation firms in both new sectors like IT, ITES (IT-enabled services), healthcare and telecom as well as older sectors like infrastructure.

Relations between these promoters and India’s political leadership covered a broad spectrum. Firms operating in sectors where the government had a relatively small role – think IT – had low interaction. Firms in government-heavy sectors – like infrastructure – made larger allowances for India’s political economy. Some stayed equidistant from political parties, donating to all. Others forged opportunistic alliances with the party in power. Yet others were owned (covertly or overtly) by politicians themselves.

Political patronage itself stayed opportunistic. In both the captive coal block allocation scam and Arunachal Pradesh’s hydelscam, firms willing to pay trounced more established rivals and bagged coal blocks and hydel MoUs. This was broad-spectrum crony capitalism. As this reporter has written earlier: “Companies with political links got what they wanted. And so did others. All that mattered was their willingness to pay.”

In this system, it was hard to say who was in the driving seat. Industrialists could get their way through bribes. Politicians could determine who got the largesse.

With Gautam Adani, India is seeing something new. According to economic commentators, the government has chosen his group as a ‘national champion’ – and is encouraging its expansion into a clutch of sectors critical for India. At the same time, the financial underpinnings of the group are opaque – like its quicksilver pace of growth despite the absence of cash cows in the group; shadowy investors; charges of stock-price manipulation, and a thick density of related-party transactions.

This combination needs to be understood. How was the group chosen as a national champion? Is that the right strategy for India – or could it push India closer to a pairing, as described by James Robinson and Daron Acemoglu, between an extractive political institution and an extractive economic institution, both working for a few?

The latter worry is not an imagined fear. Given the financial pressures to win elections, India’s political parties are increasingly kleptocratic. As for Adani, there are multiple instances of him abusing his market position.

In all, Adani represents a new chapter in the evolution of India Inc. The Wire has strung together a reading list that traces his journey towards becoming a “national champion”.

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Posted by:

m rajshekhar

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I am an Indian journalist with interests in energy, environment, climate and India’s ongoing slide into right-wing authoritarianism. My book, Despite the State, an examination of pervasive state failure and democratic decay in India, was published by Westland Publications, India, in January 2021. My work has won the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award; the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award; and five Shriram Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism. Write to me at despitethestate@protonmail.com.

Reviews

“…une plongée dans les failles béantes de la démocratie indienne, un compte rendu implacable du dysfonctionnement des Etats fédérés, minés par la corruption, le clientélisme, le culte de la personnalité des élus et le capitalisme de connivence. (…a dive into the gaping holes in Indian democracy, a relentless account of the dysfunction of the federated states, undermined by corruption, clientelism, the cult of the personality of elected officials and crony capitalism).” Le Monde

“…a critical enquiry into why representative government in India is flagging.” Biblio

“…strives for an understanding of the factors that enable governments and political parties to function in a way that is seemingly hostile to the interests of the very public they have been elected to serve, a gross anomaly in an electoral democracy.” Scroll.in

“M. Rajshekhar’s deeply researched book… holds a mirror to Indian democracy, and finds several cracks.” The Hindu

“…excels at connecting the local to the national.” Open

“…refreshingly new writing on the play between India’s dysfunctional democracy and its development challenges…” Seminar

“A patient mapping and thorough analysis of the Indian system’s horrific flaws…” Business Standard (Image here)

“33 മാസം, 6 സംസ്ഥാനങ്ങൾ, 120 റിപ്പോർട്ടുകൾ: ജനാധിപത്യം തേടി മഹത്തായ ഇന്ത്യൻ യാത്ര… (33 months, 6 states, 120 reports: Great Indian journey in search of democracy…)” Malayala Manorama

“Hindustan ki maujooda siyasi wa maaashi soorat e hal.” QindeelOnline

“What emerges is the image of a state that is extractive, dominant, casteist and clientelist.” Tribune

“…reporting at its best. The picture that emerges is of a democracy that has been hijacked by vested interests, interested only in power and pelf.” Moneycontrol.com

Book lists

“Ten best non-fiction books of the year“, The Hindu.

“Twenty-One Notable Books From 2021“, The Wire.

“What has South Asia been reading: 2021 edition“, Himal Southasian

Interviews

“Journalism is a social enterprise…,” Booksfirst.in.

“Democratic decay at state level: Journalist M Rajshekhar on book ‘Despite the State’,” The News Minute.

“Covid-19 en Inde : “des décès de masse” dont un “État obscurantiste est responsable,” Asialyst.

Allusions/Mentions

“JP to BJP: The Unanswered Questions“.
Mahtab Alam’s review of “JP to BJP: Bihar After Lalu and Nitish”.

“Urban History of Atmospheric Modernity in Colonial India“. Mohammad Sajjad’s review of “Dust and Smoke: Air Pollution and Colonial Urbanism, India, c1860-c1940”.

“Westland closure: Titles that are selling fast and a few personal recommendations,” by Chetana Divya Vasudev, Moneycontrol. (Because this happened too. In February, a year after DtS was released, Amazon decided to shutter Westland, which published the book. The announcement saw folks rushing to buy copies of Westland books before stocks run out.)

“Time to change tack on counterinsurgency” by TK Arun, The Federal.

“All Things Policy: The Challenges of Governing States” by Suman Joshi and Sarthak Pradhan, Takshashila Institute (podcast).

“The Future of Entertainment“, Kaveree Bamzai in Open.

“On What India’s Watching“, Prathyush Parasuraman on Substack.

“The puppeteers around us“, Karthik Venkatesh in Deccan Herald.

“Will TN election manifestos continue ‘populist’ welfare schemes?“, Anna Isaac for The News Minute.

“Why wages-for-housework won’t help women“, V Geetha in Indian Express.

“The poor state of the Indian state“, Arun Maira in The Hindu.

Book discussions

26 December, 2021: Rangashankara, Bangalore, a discussion with Dhanya Rajendran.

16 November: Rachna Books, Gangtok, a discussion with Pema Wangchuk.

29 August: Books In The Time of Chaos, with Ujwal Kumar.

21 May: Hyderabad Lit Fest with Kaveree Bamzai and Aniruddha Bahal.

28 March: Paalam Books, Salem, Tamil Nadu.

19 March: The News Minute, “Citizens, the State, and the idea of India“

6 March: Pen@Prithvi, with Suhit Kelkar

20 February: A discussion between scholars Usha Ramanathan, Tridip Suhrud, MS Sriram and me to formally launch Despite the State.

6 February: DogEars Bookshop, Margoa.

5 February: The Polis Project, Dispatches with Suchitra Vijayan.

30 January: Founding Fuel, “Systems Thinking, State Capacity and Grassroots Development“.

25 January: Miranda House Literary Society