Government’s B2B portal expands services to make business easier

 The Dollar Business Bureau In an effort to make business process easier in India, the government’s B2B web portal – www.ebiz.gov.in – has included 14 services provided by the Central government to ensure quick and online resolution of issues faced by industries in India. The web portal aims at providing various services of the Central government, State government and government-run bodies through a single window. A total of, 14 Central government services have been integrated with the portal. “This helps improve ‘ease of doing business’ in India by reducing the compliance burden on industry arising out of procedural and regulatory formalities,” Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The government has also identified various services of State government to be provided through the portal. In the first phase, 10 states - Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu - have been identified for integration of state services on pilot basis, the minister said. Through the website, anyone willing to set up a business can create a personalised list of licences, clearances and registrations required. Applicants can also get information about various steps, apply online for the requisite documents and make payments towards processing fee, stamp duties, or other charges. The new facility enables applicants to track status of their applications online and receive alerts via email and SMS on the progress. The window was launched in February to give impetus to the “Make in India” campaign and attract more investments in the manufacturing sector. As per the 2010-National Manufacturing Policy, the government aims at enhancing the share of manufacturing in the country’s GDP to 25% by 2022 and increase the growth of the manufacturing sector up to 14%. The government has also set the goal to create 100 million additional jobs by 2022 and enhance global competiveness of Indian manufacturing through appropriate policy support. In her written reply to a question on foreign investment, the minister said, “No specific investment proposals in respect of the national investment and manufacturing zones have been received from Japan and China. However, the government of Japan has announced their financial support for Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.” Japan has agreed to provide financial support up to US$ 4.5 billion in the first phase for projects with Japanese participation. Japanese funds will come through lending from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The JICA will also help India in the Master Plans for three nodes—Tumkur (Karnataka), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Ponneri (Tamil Nadu) under the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.    

This article was published on April 27, 2015 – 1:15 pm  IST