DIPP starts preparing reform framework for states’ rankings

The Dollar Business Bureau (Sourced inputs from PTI)

The Commerce and Industry Ministry has started working on a new set of reforms for states that will help them improve their rankings in ease of doing business.

In its press release the Commerce and Industries Ministry has said, that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in its efforts to improve the business climate in states, has started preparing the next set of business reforms for States to implement. The states will be implementing business reforms of this new framework for next year's assessment of implementation of these reforms, it said. 

Nearly 20 states/UTs representatives participated and provided suggestions to the DIPP in the meeting. 

It is in this mission that the government has invited Bill Gates, co-founder and co-Chairman of Microsoft, to address the country's top policy makers as part of Niti Aayog’s lecture series on ‘Transforming India’. This is a part of the initiative that Niti Aayog has taken up to strengthen the states. A workshop was organised with the government and Union Territory officials to brainstorm on ideas leading to the framework. 

"Many states recommended a feedback mechanism from beneficiaries, which should be made an integral part of the assessment framework,"the press release said. 

Other suggestions which were mentioned during the discussion included giving more weightage to key reforms; measure 'quality of service to industry; grouping of States/UTs with respect to their per capita income, rankings on outcome-based parameters like timelines for giving clearances/costs in providing NoCs/permits/clearances. 

"Further, states with more than 90 per cent implementation of reforms were requested to handhold and guide the reform process in States/UTs with less than 40 per cent implementation of reforms in this year's assessment of reforms by States/UTs," it added. 

Bill Gates in his address outlined the importance of technology as a key lever for transformation. A strong ecosystem of innovation is needed to build better products of the future he said. He also said for the private sector to deliver efficient services, the government has to play the part of a smart enabler and regulator. He praised India's initiatives and said since India is on the cusp of a major change the world is "looking at it to not just solve its problems but to also address global challenges through innovation."

This year, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have jointly topped the ease of doing business ranking while Gujarat has slipped to the third position in the list jointly prepared by the World Bank and DIPP. 

The exercise of ranking states is aimed at promoting healthy competition among them with a view to improving business climate of the country to attract domestic as well as foreign investmennt.