The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has recently initiated a regulatory compliance portal. This innovative step is an attempt to bridge the gap between citizens, industries and the government by lessening onerous compliances that affect time and cost of businesses. With this move, DPIIT assumes the central role in orchestrating the task of minimizing regulatory compliance burden.
Objective of the Initiative
The primary goal of this initiative is to alleviate the compliance burden, streamline the connection between citizens and government, online or offline, and eliminate antiquated acts without any value addition. Improving manufacturing and making Indian industry competitive involves addressing issues of quality and scale, but reducing the compliance burden is a significant aspect of reducing costs.
About the Regulatory Compliance Portal
Under this initiative, all Central Ministries/Departments and States/Union Territories will review laws/regulations/rules within their jurisdiction and formulate an action plan to rationalize and simplify processes, remove burdensome compliances, decriminalize laws and eliminate redundant Acts. These details will be recorded and tracked on the online Regulatory Compliance Portal.
This portal serves as a first-of-its-kind centralized online repository of all compliance at both central and state levels. Furthermore, industry stakeholders from trade bodies like CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM will be encouraged to provide recommendations to reduce the regulatory compliance burden.
Customized reports of action taken by each Ministry/Department and State/Union Territory will also be generated for monitoring and evaluation.
Other Noteworthy Steps
In 2015, the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) was initiated to rank states. BRAP 2019 included 80 reforms (187 reform action points) to be implemented by 19 State departments. These reforms covered 12 business regulatory areas such as Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour, Environment, etc.
Additionally, industrial corridors are being developed to accelerate growth and facilitate the creation of a well-structured, resource-efficient industrial base served by world-class sustainable connectivity infrastructure.
Invest India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India, has also been working towards transforming the country’s investment climate by simplifying the business environment for investors. It was recently declared as the winner of the United Nations Investment Promotion Award 2020.
In 2014, the Make in India initiative was launched including action plans for 25 sectors aimed at facilitating investment, fostering innovation, developing top-tier manufacturing infrastructure, promoting ease of doing business, and enhancing skill development.
Significance of These Initiatives
These measures have contributed to a significant improvement in India’s position in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report, rising from 142nd in 2014 to 63rd in 2019. The steps taken will be pivotal in realizing the dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat, promoting ease of doing business for the industry and enhancing the quality of life for citizens.
