Lok Sabha Question No. 2504 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-14
Subject: Investor Facilitation Cell
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY, ASADUDDIN OWAISI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY & PROMOTION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2504.

TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, THE 14 TH  DECEMBER, 2015.

## INVESTOR FACILITATION CELL

2504.

SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY:

SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

## वाणिज् यवव द्यग ं ्री

- (a) whether the Government  has asked all the Ministries/Departments to establish Investment facilitation centres to attract more investment;
- (b) if so, the State/UT-wise details of the investor facilitation cell set up as per the provisions under Invest India to extend assistance, guidelines and cooperation  to  the  investors  by  the  Government  during  various  phases  of Trade tenure cycle; and
- (c) the State-wise details of the measures taken by the Government to expedite manufacturing works and achieve growth rate in this sector during the years 2014-15 and 2015-16?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज् यवव द्यग ााज् यं ्रीस् वतं ््रभााा(स्रींतंरीिरंमलााीरीतंाांि( THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRIMATI NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a): Yes, Madam. The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion has requested Ministries/Departments as well as the State Governments and UTs to set up Investor Facilitation Centres to help channelize investments into the country.
- (b): No Investor Facilitation Cell has been set up under Invest India in the States. However, several States have set up their own one-stop facilitation centres to extend assistance and provide guidelines and cooperation to the investors.
- (c): In pursuance of an Action Plan agreed at the National Workshop on 'Make in India'  held  in  December  2014, States/UTs have embarked upon a series of business  reforms   with  a  view  to  improving  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of various  government  regulatory  functions  and  services  for  businesses  in India.  Some of the important measures taken by the States are indicated in the statement at Annexure .

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## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2504 FOR ANSWER ON 14.12.2015.

## Initiatives on Improving 'Ease of Doing Business' in India

The Government of India has taken up a series of measures to improve Ease of Doing Business. The emphasis has been on simplification and rationalization of the existing rules and introduction of information technology to make governance more efficient and effective. The measures taken are:

1.  Process  of  applying  for  Industrial  License  (IL)  and  Industrial  Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) has been made online and this service is now available to entrepreneurs on 24x7 basis at the eBiz website. This had led to ease of filing applications and online payment of service charges.
2.  20 services are integrated with the eBiz portal which will function as a single window  portal for obtaining clearances from various  governments  and government agencies.  These services are given in Appendix.
3.   Notification  has  been  issued  on  12-03-2015  by  DGFT  to  limit  number  of documents required for export and import to three.
4.  Ministry of Corporate Affairs has introduced an integrated process  of incorporation  of  a  company,  wherein  applicants  can  apply  for  Director's Identification  Number  (DIN)  and  company  name  availability  simultaneous  to incorporation application [Form INC-29].
5.  The  Companies  (Amendment)  Act,  2015  has  been  passed  to  remove requirements of minimum paid-up capital and common seal for companies. It also simplifies a number of other regulatory requirements.
6.   A comparative study of practices followed by the States for grant of clearance and  ensuring  compliances  was  conducted  through  M/s  Accenture  Services (P) Ltd. and six best practices were identified. These were circulated among all the states for peer evaluation and adoption. The study has also identified important  bottlenecks  faced  by  industries  and  important  steps  required  to improve the business environment in States.
7.  Application  forms  for  Industrial  Licence  (IL)  and  Industrial  Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) have been simplified.
8.  Vide Press Note 3 (2014), Defence products' list for industrial licensing has been  issued,  wherein  large  number  of  parts/components,  castings/forgings etc. have been excluded from the purview of industrial licensing. Similarly dual use items, having military as well as civilian application (unless classified as defence item) will also not require Industrial License from defence angle. For these  items  only  an  Industrial  Entrepreneur  Memorandum  (IEM)  has  to  be filed.
9.  Vide Press Note 5 (2014), initial validity period of Industrial License has been increased  to  three  years  from  two  years.  This  will  give  enough  time  to licensees to procure land and obtain the necessary clearances/approvals from authorities.
10.  MHA has stipulated that it will grant security clearance on Industrial Licence Applications  within  12  weeks.  In  matters  other  than  Explosives  and  FIPB cases, security clearances are valid for three years unless there is a change in composition of management or shareholding.
11.  Partial  commencement  of  production  is  being  treated  as  commencement of production  of  all  the  items  included  in  the  license.  This  has  obviated  the hardship  of  licensees  to  get  their  Industrial  License  extended  even  though they have started production.
12.  To facilitate investors and  to reply to  their  queries,  Frequently  Asked Questions  (FAQs)  by  applicants  for  grant  of  industrial  license  have  been developed and uploaded on DIPP website.
13.  Vide Press Note 4 (2014), the NIC Code NIC 2008 has been adopted, which is the advanced version of industrial classification. This code will allow Indian businesses to be part of globally recognized and accepted classification that facilitate smooth approvals/registration.
14.  Vide  Press  Note  6  (2014),  the  'Security  Manual  for  Licensed  Defence Industry' has been issued. This has obviated the requirement of affidavit from applicants. Earlier, an affidavit signed before Judicial Magistrate was required from the applicant to confirm that they will comply with the safety & security guidelines/procedures  laid  down  by  the  Ministry  of  Defence  and  Ministry  of Home Affairs in Government of India. The applicants were facing difficulties in obtaining such affidavit and this was severely delaying the issue of License even after approval of Licensing Committee.
15.  A  checklist  with  specific  time-lines  has  been  developed  for  processing  all applications  filed  by  foreign  investors  in  cases  relating  to  Retail/NRI/EoU foreign investments. This has been placed on the DIPP website.
16.  An Investor Facilitation Cell has been created in 'Invest India' to guide, assist and handhold investors during the entire life-cycle of the business.
17.  SEZ Units allowed removing goods for repair, replacement, testing, calibration, quality testing and research and development on self-attestation.
18.  Process of applying for Environment and Forests clearances has been made online  through  Ministry  of  Environment  and  Forests  and  Climate  Change's portals http://environmentclearance.nic.in/ and http://forestsclearance.nic.in/ .
19.  Requirement  for  Environment  Assessment  Report  is  required  for  industrial shed,  school,  college,  hostel  for  education  institution  above  20,000  square meters of build-up area up to 150,000 square meters of build-up area.
20.  The  issue  of  time  taken  in  registration  with  Employees  Provident  Fund Organization  (EPFO)  and  Employees  State  Insurance  Corporation  (ESIC) was taken up with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Director General, ESIC and Central  Provident  Fund  Commissioner.  Both  the  processes  have been automated and ESIC registration number is being provided on a realtime basis.
21.  An  order  facilitating  revival  and  rehabilitation  of  MSMEs  through  banker's committee has been issued by Ministry of MSME.
22.  A  unified  portal  for  registration  of  Units  for  LIN,  reporting  of  inspection, submission of returns and grievance redressal has been launched by Ministry of Labour and Employment.
23.  DIPP  has  requested  all  Secretaries  of  Government  of  India  and  Chief Secretaries  of  the  States/UTs  to  simplify  and  rationalize  the  regulatory environment.  In  order  to  improve  the  regulatory  business  environment  they have been requested to take the following measures on priority: a) All returns should  be  filed  on-line  through  a  unified  form;  b)  A  check-list  of  required compliances  should  be  placed  on  Department's  web  portal;  c)  All  registers required to be maintained by the business should be replaced with a single electronic  register;  d)  No  inspection  should  be  undertaken  without  the approval  of  the  Head  of  the  Department;  and  e)  For  all  non-risk,  nonhazardous businesses a system of self-certification should be introduced.
24.  Registration  process  of  VAT  and  Professional  tax  has  been  merged  into  a single  process  with  single  ID  on  1st  January,  2015  by  the  Government  of Maharashtra.
25.  Registration  for  VAT  in  Delhi  has  been  made  online.  TIN  allotment  is  done real-time and business can start immediately on receipt of TIN number.
26.  The  time  required  for  giving  a  new  electric  connection  in  Mumbai  has  been reduced to 21 days from 67 days. The number of procedures  involved has been cut down to 3 from existing 7.
27.  Simplified  procedure  for  new  electric  connection  in  Delhi  with  reduced procedures and time.
28.  Municipal  Corporation  of  Delhi  has  launched  online  application  process  for grant  of  construction  permits  for  residential  and  industrial  buildings  on  16th March, 2015 and commercial buildings in May, 2015.

## Appendix

| List of 20 Central Government Services(Integrated)   | List of 20 Central Government Services(Integrated)   | List of 20 Central Government Services(Integrated)                                       |
|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                                              | Ministry/ Dept. Name                                 | Service Name                                                                             |
| 1                                                    | Ministry of Corporate Affairs                        | Name Availability                                                                        |
| 2                                                    | Ministry of Corporate Affairs                        | Director Identification Number                                                           |
| 3                                                    | Ministry of Corporate Affairs                        | Certificate of Incorporation                                                             |
| 4                                                    | Ministry of Corporate Affairs                        | Commencement of Business                                                                 |
| 5                                                    | Central Board of Direct Taxes                        | Issue of Permanent Account Number (PAN)                                                  |
| 6                                                    | Central Board of Direct Taxes                        | Issue of Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN)                                              |
| 7                                                    | Reserve Bank of India                                | Advanced Foreign Remittance (AFR)                                                        |
| 8                                                    | Reserve Bank of India                                | Foreign Collaboration-General Permission Route (FC-GPR)                                  |
| 9                                                    | Employees' Provident Fund Organization               | Employer Registration                                                                    |
| 10                                                   | Employee's State Insurance Corporation               | Employer Registration                                                                    |
| 11                                                   | Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization         | Issue of Explosive License                                                               |
| 12                                                   | Directorate General of Foreign Trade                 | Importer Exporter Code License                                                           |
| 13                                                   | Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion        | Industrial License                                                                       |
| 14                                                   | Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion        | Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum                                                       |
| 15.                                                  | Department of Heavy Industry (DHI)                   | Issue of custom duty concession certificate to entrepreneurs under project import scheme |
| 16.                                                  | Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)                 | Changes or correction in PAN data                                                        |
| 17.                                                  | Reserve Bank of India                                | Foreign Currency- Transfer of Shares                                                     |
| 18.                                                  | Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E)            | Registration under the Contract Labour Act, 1970                                         |
| 19.                                                  | Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E)            | Registration under the Building and other construction workers Act, 1996                 |
| 20.                                                  | Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E)            | Registration under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979                             |

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