The capital of the northwestern state of Rajasthan saw one of India’s steepest surges in foreign direct investment in the year through March 2015. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, taking advantage of her absolute dominance over the state and municipal legislatures, has pushed through reforms Modi has struggled with, relaxing contentious labor rules and making it easier for companies to acquire land.
Raje has also relaxed land acquisition rules to set up factories in special economic zones and is now looking to extend the provisions state-wide, after Modi was forced to backtrack from his proposals.
In other areas, she’s a step ahead of Modi: Rajasthan in October unveiled a new start-up policy, vowing to provide funding for new companies, months ahead of Modi’s promised incentives.