Entrepreneurship and Public Enterprise The Case Study of a Bagasse-based Newsprint Project

Abstract

There are conflicting opinions about the role of the state in promoting industrial ventures. While one school of thought believes that the state should limit itself merely to the role of ’facilitator’ to the private enterprise, another group stresses the need for the state to directly mount and develop industrial ventures at least in the areas the private entrepreneurs may find unattractive or excessively risky. This paper recounts the story of the emergence of a paper mill in India, based on a new technology, and suggests that certain conditions must be met if state-promoted enterprises are to succeed.