The ‘Mysore Model’ of Industrialization (1912–1918)

Abstract

This paper examines the structural transformation of the Princely State of Mysore during the Dewanship of Sir M. Visvesvaraya (1912–1918). It conceptualizes the "Mysore Model" not merely as a localized effort at modernization, but as a sophisticated, early manifestation of state capitalism that deliberately challenged the laissez-faire orthodoxy of the British Raj. By analysing institutional innovations—principally the Mysore Economic Conference—the paper demonstrates how Visvesvaraya systematically dismantled traditional revenue-centric bureaucratic structures. In their place, he installed a highly specialized "techno-bureaucratic elite" composed of engineers, statisticians, and industrial administrators. Through a rigorous examination of primary state papers, legislative proceedings, and administrative reports, this study charts the execution of infrastructure-led import substitution, the ideological friction between centralized state planning and emerging Gandhian agrarianism, and the structural limitations imposed by British colonial paramountcy. Ultimately, the paper argues that the institutional and bureaucratic precedents established between 1912 and 1918 laid the structural foundations for the post-independence Indian planning state and the contemporary technological landscape of southern Karnataka.

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