Modi Means Business: Time Magazine


Bangalore: Time Magazine, in its latest edition puts Modi in the erstwhile company of past Indian greats like Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi – who also adorned its cover. ‘Modi Means Business: But Can He Lead India' says the cover of TIME Magazine's Asian edition.

TIME endorses this 10-year-long journey of progress - of the state becoming "India's most industrialized and business-friendly territory". It further identifies the drivers of this success as "good planning – exactly what so much of India lacks", and a leader with the "ability to get things done." 

Appreciating how Gujarat has "largely escaped the land conflicts and petty corruption that often paralyze growth elsewhere in the nation", the article talks of how "Modi has set about revamping the State's economy" leveraging on Gujarat's natural advantages. Amongst the State's many strengths that the article mentions, is Gujarat's being the only state in India where both big businesses and small farmers can expect 24 hours uninterrupted power supply - with "the premium rates paid by big business used to subsidize rural electrification." Further examples include the establishment of a "streamlined bureaucracy", as well as the State's emergence as an Auto-hub over the last 10 years – with Gujarat's auto industry growing "from one modest plant to an expected capacity of 700,000 cars in 2014".

An American weekly news magazine published since 1923, TIME is the world's largest circulation news weekly with a readership of 25 million, of which 20 million are in the U.S.

Praising Narendra Modi the person as well, TIME highlights how unlike many other politicians, "Modi doesn't put his faith on display", having no religious icons in his office – which instead has only statues of his hero, Swami Vivekananda. It further points out how "in a country where nepotism and dynastic politics are the norm, Modi's family is invisible." 

TIME acknowledges the public perception of Modi being seen as a "firm, no-nonsense leader who will set the nation on a course of development that might finally put it on par with China".