Keshubhai Patel and Modi's BJP governments supported NGOs and communities in the creation of groundwater-conservation projects; according to Tushaar Shah, Gujarat (a semi-arid state) was " ... never known for agrarian dynamism". By December 2008 500,000 structures were built, of which 113,738 were check dams. While most check-dam impoundments dried up during the pre-monsoon period, they helped monsoon rains recharge the aquifers beneath them.[133] Sixty of the 112 tehsils which were found to have depleted the water table in 2004 had regained their normal groundwater levels by 2010,[134] and Gujarat increased its groundwater levels when they were falling in all other Indian states. As a result, the state's production of genetically modified Bt cotton (which could now be irrigated with tube wells) increased to become the largest in India.[133] The boom in cotton production and its semi-arid land use[135] saw Gujarat's agricultural growth increase to 9.6 percent from 2001 to 2007.[136] Although public irrigation measures in central and southern Gujarat (such as the Sardar Sarovar Dam) have been less successful,[133] from 2001 to 2010 Gujarat recorded an agricultural growth rate of 10.97 percent – the highest of any state.[135] However, sociologists have pointed out that the growth rate under the 1992–97 INC government was 12.9 percent.The Modi government brought electricity to every village in Gujarat, although according to Dipankar Banerjee all but 170 villages had been electrified under the INC administration.[137] Modi significantly changed the state's system of power distribution, greatly impacting farmers. Gujarat expanded the Jyotigram Yojana scheme, in which agricultural electricity was separated from other rural electricity; the agricultural electricity was rationed to fit scheduled irrigation demands, reducing its cost. Although early protests by farmers ended when those who benefited found that their electricity supply had stabilised,[133] according to an assessment study corporations and large farmers benefited from the policy at the expense of small farmers and labourers.
Modi's government has branded Gujarat as a state of dynamic development, economic growth and prosperity with the slogan, "Vibrant Gujarat".[141][142][143] He has been praised for facilitating ease of doing business and ending bureauratic logjam which made investment in India an olympic feat. Gujarat topped the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings for two consecutive years.[144] of which the first report was blocked by the then UPA government.[145] Narendra Modi-led Gujarat continued to remain the top-ranked Indian state in terms of "economic freedom" - an index that measures governance, growth, citizens' rights and labour and business regulation among the country's 20 largest states.[146] However, critics have pointed to its relatively poor record on human development, poverty relief, nutrition and education. Gujarat ranks 13th in India in poverty and 21st in education. Nearly 45 percent of children under five are underweight and 23 percent are undernourished, putting the state in the "alarming" category on the India State Hunger Index.[147] According to state officials, Gujarat outperformed India as a whole in improving several human-development indicators (such as female education) from 2001 to 2011; school drop-out rates declined from 20 percent in 2001 to two percent in 2011, and maternal mortality fell by 32 percent during the same period.[148] In a review of the 1894 Land Acquisition Act, the Supreme Court of India identified Gujarat as one of the few states from which there were no complaints of forcible land acquisition.
Modi's government has branded Gujarat as a state of dynamic development, economic growth and prosperity with the slogan, "Vibrant Gujarat".[141][142][143] He has been praised for facilitating ease of doing business and ending bureauratic logjam which made investment in India an olympic feat. Gujarat topped the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings for two consecutive years.[144] of which the first report was blocked by the then UPA government.[145] Narendra Modi-led Gujarat continued to remain the top-ranked Indian state in terms of "economic freedom" - an index that measures governance, growth, citizens' rights and labour and business regulation among the country's 20 largest states.[146] However, critics have pointed to its relatively poor record on human development, poverty relief, nutrition and education. Gujarat ranks 13th in India in poverty and 21st in education. Nearly 45 percent of children under five are underweight and 23 percent are undernourished, putting the state in the "alarming" category on the India State Hunger Index.[147] According to state officials, Gujarat outperformed India as a whole in improving several human-development indicators (such as female education) from 2001 to 2011; school drop-out rates declined from 20 percent in 2001 to two percent in 2011, and maternal mortality fell by 32 percent during the same period.[148] In a review of the 1894 Land Acquisition Act, the Supreme Court of India identified Gujarat as one of the few states from which there were no complaints of forcible land acquisition.
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