Government Eyes Steps to Improve Business Climate

New Delhi: The government is considering a series of steps, including drastically reducing the time for registration of business to one day, single registration of all labour laws and a cut in number of taxes to improve ease of doing business in India.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has identified sectors and specific reforms that are urgently required to substantially improve India's ranking in ease of doing business.

It has listed as many as 46 action points for different central government ministries and state governments for improving the business climate.

For the Corporate Affairs Ministry, it has suggested that the time taken in registration of business from existing 27 days be reduced to only one day as in Canada and New Zealand.

It has also called for doing away with the requirement of company seal and removal of minimum paid up capital for starting a business.

It has suggested introduction of Bankruptcy Law, Unified Insolvency Code, speedy constitution of benches under National Company Law Tribunal and fixing of a definite and predictable timeframe for rehabilitation and liquidation process.

Similarly, it has recommended reduction in number of taxes and permitting online payment of taxes; simplification of complex tax processes; expediting implementation of Direct Tax Code, Goods and Services tax, besides abolition of minimum alternate tax for SEZ developers and units.

It has also suggested improvement in the system of judicial process for expeditious enforcement of contracts. Quick resolution of cases through alternative dispute mechanisms, claim cases of less than Rs 10 lakh to be mandatorily referred for arbitration and an increase in number of courts and judges have also been suggested.

Further, it has called for a uniform policy and procedure for all states for a single window clearance along with combined application form and single registration for VAT and other state taxes.

"The DIPP has already started meetings with different ministries including Home Affairs on the matter," sources said. For Municipal Corporations, it has called for introduction of one-stop shop to improve coordination of various departments and removal of No-Objection Certificate requirement from Airports Authority of India for building outside notified areas.

The DIPP has also proposed timelines to implement these initiatives, aimed at attracting investments as part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make In India' campaign.

During the last three years, India has received an average of $30 billion annual foreign direct investment.

India needs huge investments to give a boost to its manufacturing sector and to create millions of jobs.

According to a World Bank report, India has slipped three positions to 134th spot in the latest 'ease of doing business' list, which is topped by Singapore.