Doing business in India to get easy, registration in just a day

[Sumit Arora]

During the launch of 'Make in India' campaign, PM Narendra Modi had announced that his government would take steps to bring the country’s ranking on the "Ease of doing business” index among the top 50.

In order to make India a better place to do business, the government is working to cut down the time for company registration in India from 27 days to a single day. Towards this end, it has readied a raft of measures, such as, single registration for all labour laws, overhaul of tax systems, reduction in the number of permits required, easing up property registration, quick electricity connection and property registration - measures that are expected to make the country a friendlier investment destination.

Currently, India has the reputation of being a notoriously difficult place to do business. According to The World Bank's "Ease of doing business" index, India ranked 134 out of 189 countries in 2014, behind China (ranked 96) and behind neighbours Pakistani (110) and Bangladesh (130). During the launch of the 'Make in India' campaign, Narendra Modi had announced that his government would take steps to bring the country's ranking among the top 50.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has been made the nodal agency for pushing these procedural reforms. In turn, DIPP has set a time frame of 3-6 months for implementing the changes. It has asked all ministries to come on board and work to reform the regulatory structure and overhaul the investment climate. States are also being encouraged to join the Centre's efforts to improve the regulatory structure and cut down delays.

Among the focus areas are reforms of the tax system. It has been suggested that the number of taxes be reduced and online payment of taxes allowed. Education and higher education cess, dividend and withholding taxes can be incorporated under corporation tax to simplify the process, officials said. The Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) for developers of special economic zones (SEZs) and units in SEZs is proposed to be abolished. There is emphasis to expeditiously implement the Direct Tax Code and goods and service tax (GST).

"To achieve all this, the government, along with the states, will need to carry out radical measures on a war footing," said an official, who did not wish to be named.

The DIPP has set timelines for various reforms for ministries and departments. For example, it has been suggested that there should be no inspection for low risk business and computer based selection for high risk ones. There is also a proposal for a uniform policy and procedure for all states so as to enable the single-window clearance system, along with a combined application form with an institutional mechanism to provide various approvals.

The DIPP has cited examples from various countries such as Malaysia, New Zealand, Canada, Rwanda, Turkey and UAE for easing up the processes and reduce delays. It has also been suggested that the requirement of minimum paid-up capital for starting a business should be done away with, as 90 countries have no such requirement.

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