NEW DELHI: After a record jump of 30 places in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking, India is gearing up to leapfrog into the top 50 with around 90 specific reforms lined up for various ministries, top officials said.
The reforms covering seven ministries are to be implemented by May next year with a focus on reducing the number of processes and moving them online. The maximum improvements targeted are in the areas of construction permits (22) and registering property (14), indicators where India still has a low rank.
The government will also ensure that around 122 reforms not counted this year are felt on the ground by users so that the World Bank can consider them in the rankings next year, when the effects of the landmark goods and services tax (GST) will also be taken into account.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will drive this plan to climb higher next year. Overall, India was ranked at 100 out of 190 countries up from 130 last year in the latest World Bank listing that was unveiled on Tuesday.
"Convincing the World Bank is not easy. Delivery on ground is important for them, not just announcement of policies," a senior government official said. The World Bank goes by user experience before counting a reform toward the rankings.
The government has proposed a dozen reforms in the area of starting businesses, where India is still ranked 156. These include reducing the list of documents required to open a bank account for a company to three — ID proof, address proof and authorisation letter.
The corporate affairs ministry has been asked to make the Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically (SPICe) compulsory for reserving names and scrap all other options. The ministry will also introduce an alternative to the digital signature in the form of a user name or one-time password. The ministry also has to deliver on six reforms related to resolving insolvencies.
The housing and urban affairs ministry has been tasked with mandating an online system for all approvals during the construction lifecycle. It has to reduce the number of procedures for obtaining construction permits to eight. It also has to kick off business process reengineering and integrate multiple building plan and completion forms into one.
These are among 22 reforms the ministry has to implement related to easing construction permits where India is ranked at 181. The department of revenue has to put in place a total of 16 reforms to improve 'paying taxes' and 'trading across borders' where India ranks 119 and 164, respectively.
The government has also asked Tata Power in Delhi and Mumbai along with Maharashtra government to lower the cost of getting a new electricity connection to 25% of per capita income or Rs 28,000.
That compares with Rs 43,000 at Tata Power, Delhi, Rs 36,075 at Tata Power, Mumbai, and Rs 6,00,075 at BEST for a 140 KVA connection. India is ranked at 29 in 'getting electricity' in the World Bank report.
MAKING REFORMS COUNT
Various measures pitched by the government in the doing business survey were not counted by the World Bank because the reforms were not utilised in practice, more time was required to gauge their impact or contrary feedback. Any reform implemented after the cutoff date of June 1, 2017, was also not counted, the most significant of these being GST, which was put in place on July 1.
About two dozen reforms for getting construction permits were not recognised by the World Bank study. "On paper, we were perhaps the best, but our system still gives leverage to engineers to play around with the rules. We will expedite reforms in this area on the ground now," said the official cited above. Several 'resolving insolvency' reforms have also not been counted.
"We will take up the reforms which World Bank has not recognised with the stakeholders to ensure they are getting implemented properly and we claim a higher spot in the world next year," the official added.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com