ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the power and influence the corporations to wield in state polity. It begins by discussing the role of India Inc. (a collective of top Indian corporations) in bringing the Modi government to power which ultimately resulted in diluting the 2013 Land Acquisition Act in many states across India to make the land acquisition process easier. It then shifts the focus to the state of Jharkhand to highlight the growing dominance of the corporations in Jharkhand, resulting in increasing pressures, demands, and threats to make Jharkhand more investor friendly. According to multiple corporate interviewees, the laws in Jharkhand are a hurdle for the neoliberal agenda as they argue that the neighbouring states are providing attractive investment packages to the corporations and therefore, Jharkhand should too. These interviewees contend that the Jharkhand government needs to accept that expropriation is a cost of development, and thus they should take on the responsibility to change the laws and make it easier for the corporations to access land by playing the role of a facilitator of land deals, else risk derailing India from its economic growth trajectory and making it uncompetitive in the global market.
