Lok Sabha Question No. 1240 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-11
Subject: Initiative to Ease of Doing Business
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Shri P C Mohan, Shri Zia Ur Rehman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1240.

TO BE ANSWERED ON TUESDAY, THE 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2025.

## INITIATIVE TO EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

## 1240.  SHRI ZIA UR REHMAN: SHRI P C MOHAN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) the  details  of  plans  for  any  upcoming  industrial  development  projects  or initiatives  aimed  by  the  Government  at  enhancing  the  city's  infrastructure, supporting innovation and attracting investments;
- (b) the details of specific steps being taken by the Government to address factors that may currently be influencing investment flows into the city;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  new  initiatives  to  increase  ease  of doing business in the country particularly Bengaluru, specifically in terms of regulatory reforms and financial support for startups and small enterprises and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the extent to which the Government proposes to enhance Bengaluru's role as a  technology  and  innovation  hub  through  national  policies,  including  the development of R&D infrastructure and support for emerging industries?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री ( श्री णिणिन प्रसाद ) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

- (a) to (d): With  a  vision  to  improve  India's  business  climate,  attract  investments  and foster economic growth by making the regulatory environment more businessfriendly  in  the  country  including  Bengaluru,  Department  for  Promotion  of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has taken several initiatives under the flagship programme of Ease of Doing Business which includes Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP), the B-Ready assessment, Jan Vishwas and Reducing Compliance  Burden  on  Businesses  and  Citizens.  Under,  the  Regulatory Compliance  Burden  (RCB)  initiative,  more  than  42,000  compliances  have been reduced under 670 acts nationwide. Further, to enhance the Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business, the Central Government, through the Jan Vishwas  (Amendment  of  Provisions)  Act,  2023,  has  decriminalized  183 provisions across 42 Central Acts from 19 Ministries/Departments.

BRAP initiative has been launched in 2014 by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), aims to reduce obstacles and make clearance and regulatory processes more transparent and efficient, thereby cutting down on time and costs for businesses. States are assessed based on evidence  and  user  feedback,  ensuring  that  reforms  are  effective  at  the grassroots level.

So far, six editions of BRAP (2015, 2016, 2017-18, 2019, 2020, and 2022) have been completed, and the States/UTs have been assessed accordingly.

The  DPIIT  has  initiated  Cost  of  Regulation  (CoR)  exercise  which  aims  to identify and reform the areas of pain-points in terms of administrative costs for the  services.  It  investigates  various  expenses,  including  statutory  fees, professional service charges, the economic impact of delays, and time costs incurred  to  get  the  approvals.  The  framework  aggregates  these  costs  to pinpoint  reform  needs  and  enhances  procedural  efficiency  resulting  in improved ease of doing business.

The Indian government, through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, has decriminalized 183 provisions across 42 Central Acts from 19 Ministries/Departments  to  enhance  the  Ease  of  Living  and  Ease  of  Doing Business. Decriminalization process includes removing imprisonment and/or fines, retaining fines while removing imprisonment, increasing fines in place of imprisonment, converting imprisonment and fine to penalties, and introducing compounding of offenses. DPIIT is reviewing 112 rules and laws for the upcoming Jan Vishwas 2.0 bill, aiming to further improve the business environment. The Joint Parliamentary Committee has endorsed the expansion of this decriminalization effort to additional Acts, advocating for the ongoing modernization of India's regulatory landscape.

The B-READY initiative offers an annual, and worldwide assessment of the business environment. The aim is to promote economic growth and eradicate poverty. B-READY seeks to enhance the private sector by supporting not just businesses but also workers, consumers, new enterprises, and the environment.  It  pursues  this  goal  through  three  main  strategies:  reform advocacy, policy guidance, and analysis and research. B-READY advocates for policy reform by effectively communicating international  benchmarks,  facilitating  knowledge  exchange,  and  fostering dialogue among governments, the private sector, the World Bank Group, and development  institutions.  It  provides  detailed  data  to  guide  specific  policy changes, highlighting how economies compare to international best practices.

The  Government,  with  an  intent  to  build  a  strong  ecosystem  for  nurturing innovation, Startups and encouraging investments in the Startup ecosystem of  the  country  launched  the  Startup  India  initiative  on  16th  January  2016. Under Startup India initiative, the Government constantly undertakes various efforts for the development and growth of Startup ecosystem across sectors in all the regions of the country including Bengaluru. The flagship Schemes namely, Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), Startup India Seed Fund Scheme

(SISFS) and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) support Startups at various stages of their business cycle. The Government also implements periodic exercises and programs including States' Startup Ranking, National Startup  Awards,  and  Innovation Week  which  play  an  important  role  in  the holistic development of the Startup ecosystem.

In  September 2022, Government of India launched the 'National  Logistics Policy' to develop a technologically enabled, integrated, cost efficient, resilient, sustainable and trusted logistics ecosystem in the country for accelerated and inclusive growth. This includes the support for development of State/City level logistics plans. As part of National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP) of Government  of  India,  Industrial  corridors  are  conceived  to  foster  global manufacturing,  investment  destination  hubs  with  plug  &  play  facility,  smart cities with walk-to-work concept & creating the best in-class quality infrastructure  ahead  of  demand.  The  Central  Government  has  approved Tumakaru  (Karnataka)  as  part  of  Chennai-Bengaluru  Industrial  Corridor (CBIC). National  Single  Window  System  (NSWS),  under  the  aegis  of  DPIIT  and accessible through nsws.gov.in, is a one-stop digital platform for facilitating Government to Business (G2B) approvals and investor-related clearances for industry.  It  streamlines  the  G2B  approvals  process  by  creating  information symmetry and minimizing the need to visit multiple Departmental portals. are integrated  with  NSWS  with  access  to  278  Central  G2B  services  and  2977 State G2B services. Additionally, Know Your Approvals (KYA) module is live for 658 Central G2B services and 6,787 State G2B services to facilitate free

Currently, 32 Central Ministries/Departments and 29 States/UTs flow and access of information for business enterprises.

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