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Ease of Doing Business – Scaling New Heights

 “I say this with full confidence this is the best time to be in India! In today’s India, many things are rising and many are falling. ‘Ease of Doing Business’ is rising and so is ‘Ease of Living.”

PM Shri Narendra Modi

Context and Introduction:

The World Bank conducts an annual assessment of 190 economies ranking them on how easy it is do business in a country based on 10 parameters which span over the business lifecycle, published as the Doing Business Report (DBR). India today ranks 63 in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2020, a meteoric rise of 79 ranks from 142 in 2014.

 Key Points

• In 2014, under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi, thegovernment process underwent a complete change and it started responding innovatively.
• This started the journey of government process reengineering, bringing various ministries and departments of the Centre and State together to achieve a common goal of making India the most preferred business destination.
• This daunting task was entrusted to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for being the institutional anchor for the Ease of Doing Business program.
•  DPIIT acted as a fulcrum and brought in a cohesive approach by breaking the silos and working in networks with all the government agencies.

 Parameters ofEase of Doing Businessare:

• Starting a Business

 

• Introduction of SPICe+ and AGILE PRO form by Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) saves time and effort required for a nascent company incorporation.
• This form combines various services like PAN/TAN/Director Identification Number/GSTN etc.

 

• Dealing with construction permit

 

• Online Building Permission System (OBPS) - online Single Window for obtaining all building permissions.
• In Delhi and Mumbai, all relevant agencies have been brought onboard this single window system thereby eliminating requirement on the part of the applicant to engage with each agency individually.

• Features:

• Building Plan Approval
• No Objection Certificates (NOC)
• Completion certificates (Plinth and Building Completion)
• Application for Joint Site Inspection which essentially stipulates all inspections with regards to Fire, Water, Sewage, and Environment, Archeological etc. be conducted simultaneously. This ensures transparency and efficiency in obtaining the required No Objection Certificates (NOC)
• Implementation of Risk Based Classification of buildings helped in strengthening building regulations considerably
• 2056 Urban Local Bodies across the country have replicated this Online Building Permission System

• Registering property-

• Digitization of land records has been one of the top priorities to bring efficiency and transparency in property related transactions.
• It allows citizens to view property transaction records in a digital mode.

Salient Features

• One can access all the property maps on a portal for free
• One can View & Download:

• Obtain Property cards by clicking on the property map
• Detailed Plot Report can be seen just by entering the plot number

         Benefits of Digitized Cadastral Maps

• No need to physically visit government departments for obtaining maps
• Anytime, anywhere access to maps
• No hassle of handling bulky hard copies
• Enforcing Contacts-
• Faster resolution of commercial disputes is pivotal to boost investor confidence in the dispute resolution mechanism of the country.
• Dedicated Commercial Courts have been established in Delhi and Mumbai dealing exclusively with commercial cases.
• Adoption of technology for case management by lawyers and judic officers is leading to speedier dispute resolution.
• eCourts Services Portal and eCourts Service App offer 7 case-related services for litigants and lawyers

• Resolving Insolvency-
• Introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of India (IBC) in 2016 was a game changer in resolving insolvency.
•  The objective of the Code is maximasiation of value of assets by aiming at reorganization rather than liquidation of the Corporate Debtor.
• The Code has seen success as the creditor is in charge rather than debtor in charge. The increase in recovery rate to 71 % is evidence of its success.

• Trading Across Borders –
• Time and cost to export and import reduced by electronic sealing of containers, upgradation of port infrastructure and allowing electronic submission of supporting documents with digital signatures.
• Phase 1 of Fourth Container Terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust has been made operational.
• India Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE) allows traders the facility to lodge their clearance documents online at a single point
• At present, about 43542 users are registered with ICEGATE who are serving about more than 12.5 lacs importer/exporter.
• ICEGATE offers a host of services:
• Electronic filing of Bill of Entry
• Shipping bill
• E-payment of custom duty
• Web-based Common Signer utility for signing all the Customs Documents
• Facility to file online supporting documents through eSanchit(e-Storage and ComputerizedHandling of Indirect Tax documents)
• End-to-end electronic IGST Refund

Ø In addition to e-filling, ICEGATE also provides other services like:

• • 24X7 helpdesk facility for its trading partners
  • e-payment of Central Excise and Service Tax
  • online registration for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
  • Document Tracking status at Customs Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
  • online verification of DEPB/DES/EPCG licenses
  • IE code status
  • PAN based Customs House Agent (CHA) data,
  • IGST Refund Status and
  • links to other important websites/information related to EXIM Trade

 

Engaging the States & UTs-towards Co-Operative Federalism

• The Doing Business Report of the World Bank assesses the cities of Delhi and Mumbai.To emulate the reforms done at a pan India level,Business Reform Action Plan(BRAP)was introduced in 2014. DPIIT spearheads this exercise which is driven to promote competitive federalism, incentivising States and UTs to have the most conducive business regime.
• India is one of the few countries which has a sub-national ranking exercise and under BRAP, all States and UTs are ranked on the basis of reforms undertaken by them on designated parameters.
• A dedicated online portal (www.eodb.dipp.gov.in) has been developed by DPIIT for States/UTs to submit evidences of implementation of these reform points and user data for feedback on reforms.
• Various Capacity Building Programs are conducted for handholding States/UTs in this exercise of reform implementation.
•  Best practices by states are also shared with all States/UTs encouraging similar transformations and versions across reform sub-areas.

Significant Achievements at State Level

• DPIIT has undertaken the mandate of enacting the Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act to ensure timely processing, ensuring the setting up of a single window agency to serve as a single point of contact for all licensing required by businesses, mandating joint inspection under 10 Labour Acts, etc.
• States/UTs have implemented a GIS system to provide details about the land earmarked for industrial use across the State.
• States/UTs have reduced the number of documents required for Obtaining Electricity connection to only 2.
• Generating global interest, countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Brazil have shown keen interest in replicating India’s Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) model.

Way forward

• TheHon’ble Prime Minister’s mantra of“Minimum Government Maximum Governance”has secured India’s place in the internationalcommunity as a top business destination.
• The Ease of Doing Business rankings are a yardstick to measure the improvement in the realm of Government reforms and is an integral part of the AtmaNirbhar BharatAbhiyaan.

• The Government of India is determined to put in place an investment friendly ecosystem that strongly supports domestic as well as foreign investments.
• To translate this vision into reality, the next generation of reforms are focused on reducing compliance burden for businesses and citizens.
• The unflinching commitment of the Government of India to initiate change from the apex level to the ground level has yielded results. However, there are still leaps and bounds to grow.
• Together with political and administrative will and an endeavor to move closer to international best practices, theGovernment of India is committed in translatingthe ease of doing business to the ease of living forevery citizen of this country.

Source: PIB e-Booklet on Ease of Doing Business

 

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