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Business motivation

Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living Among Government’s Priority for India’s Economic Growth, Says PM Narendra Modi

New Delhi, February 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday stressed the need for a coordinated approach among the states and the Centre to achieve the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) goal. Speaking at the sixth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, the Prime Minister said that ‘ease of doing business and ease of living’ is also among the government’s priority to a strong country’s economy. He made a strong case for repealing archaic laws for ease of doing business in India and said the centre and states need to work closely to boost economic growth.

Praising the Union Budget 2021-22 which was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this month, the Prime Minister said that people have made up their minds about what they want. He stressed on ‘zero defect, zero effect’ mantra which he gave in August 2014 to Indian entrepreneurs for better products–a direct reference to the need to make things without causing environmental harm.

During his address, the Prime Minister said that ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign is the way to build an India that produces not only for its needs but also for the world, and these productions will also stand the test of world superiority. To achieve the goal, the Prime Minister added there is need for a better coordination among Centre as well as states and increase export.

The Prime Minister stressed on the policy framework and cooperation between the Centre and states, saying “coastal states are a fine example”. “Exports from the blue economy have unlimited opportunities. Why shouldn’t our coastal states take extra initiatives for the same?” He added saying that India managed to build a good image internationally during the Covid-19 period because the central and state governments worked together for the betterment of people.

 

 

Categories
Business motivation

Ease of Doing Business in India: 4 More States Complete Ease of Business Reforms, Total 12 States Become Eligible To Mobilise Additional Financial Resources

New Delhi, February 7: The total number of states in India that have undertaken ‘Ease of Doing Business’ reforms stipulated by the finance ministry has gone up to 12 with the addition of four more states. On Saturday, four states — Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab undertook the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ reforms. With this, these states have become eligible to mobilise additional financial resources and have been granted permission to raise additional Rs 5,034 crore through Open Market Borrowings.

The ease of doing business is an important indicator of the investment friendly business climate in the country. Improvements in the ease of doing business will enable faster future growth of the state economy, a finance ministry statement said.

In India, total 12 states that fall in the list include Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab which was confirmed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). After completion of reforms facilitating ease of doing business, these twelve states have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs 28,183 crore.

In May 2020, the government had decided to link grant of additional borrowing permissions to states that undertake the reforms to facilitate ease of doing business. In view of the resource requirement to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of had on May 17, 2020 enhanced the borrowing limit of the states by 2 per cent of their GSDP. Half of this special dispensation was linked to undertaking citizen centric reforms by the states.

So far, 17 states have carried out at least one of the four stipulated reforms and have been granted reform linked borrowing permissions. Out of these, 12 states have implemented the “one nation one ration card” system, 12 states have done ease of doing business reforms, 5 states have done local body reforms and 2 states have undertaken power sector reforms. Total reform linked additional borrowing permission issued so far to the states stands at Rs 74,773 crore.

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Finance

Kerala Becomes the 8th State in India To Complete Ease of Doing Business Reforms, Becomes Eligible for Additional Borrowing Limit of Rs 2,261 Cr

Kerala has become the 8th State in India to successfully undertake ‘Ease of Doing Business’ reform stipulated by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. The ease of doing business is an important indicator of the investment friendly business climate in the country. Improvements in the ease of doing business will enable faster future growth of the state economy. Therefore, the government of India had in May 2020, decided to link grant of additional borrowing permissions to States who undertake the reforms to facilitate ease of doing business. Kerala has become eligible to mobilise additional financial resources of Rs 2,261 crore through Open Market Borrowings.

An official release by the government stated that the permission for the same was issued to Kerala by the Department of Expenditure on January 12, 2021. Kerala has now joined the seven other States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, who have completed this reform. On completion of reforms facilitating ease of doing business, these eight States have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs 23,149 crore.

State wise amount of the additional borrowing permitted is as under:

Sr. No. State Amount (Rs in crore)
1. Andhra Pradesh 2,525
2. Karnataka 4,509
3. Kerala 2,261
4. Madhya Pradesh 2,373
5. Odisha 1,429
6. Rajasthan 2,731
7. Tamil Nadu 4,813
8. Telangana 2,508

 

The reforms stipulated in this category are:

(i)      Completion of first assessment of ‘District Level Business Reform Action Plan’

(ii)     Elimination of the requirements of renewal of registration certificates/approvals/licences obtained by businesses under various Acts.

(iii)    Implementation of computerized central random inspection system under the Acts wherein allocation of inspectors is done centrally, the same inspector is not assigned to the same unit in subsequent years, prior inspection notice is provided to the business owner, and inspection report is uploaded within 48 hours of inspection.

Categories
Business motivation

Ease of Doing Business 2019 Ranking: Andhra Pradesh Ranks First in Implementing Business Reforms Followed by UP and Telangana; Check List of Top 10 States

Andhra Pradesh has again topped the list in the ranking of states and union territories (UTs) based on implementation of the business reform action plan. According to a report released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, Andhra Pradesh tops the list, while Uttar Pradesh and Telangana were placed at the second and third place, respectively in the ease of doing business for 2019. The list has been prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The ranking makes states and UTs a better place to do business. Accordin to a government release, the parameters include areas such as construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability and single-window system. It is the DPIIT that conducts the exercise for all states/UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP). In the 2019 ranking which was released in July 2018, Andhra Pradesh had topped the chart, followed by Telangana and Haryana.

Ranking of States based on the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan started in the year 2015. Till date, State Rankings have been released for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017-18. The Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 included 180 reform points covering 12 business regulatory areas such as Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour, Environment, etc.

The top ten states under State Reform Action Plan 2019 are:

  1. Andhra Pradesh
  2. Uttar Pradesh
  3. Telangana
  4. Madhya Pradesh
  5. Jharkhand
  6. Chhattisgarh
  7. Himachal Pradesh
  8. Rajasthan
  9. West Bengal
  10. Gujarat

The larger objective of attracting investments and increasing Ease of Doing Business in each State was sought to be achieved by introducing an element of healthy competition through a system of ranking states based on their performance in the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan.

The ranking this time gives full weightage to the feedback from over thirty thousand respondents at the ground level, who gave their opinion about the effectiveness of the reforms.State rankings will help attract investments, foster healthy competition and increase Ease of Doing Business in each State.