New Delhi: Keen to provide a friendly investment climate in the country to ensure “ease of doing business”, which is also essential for the government’s ambitious “Make in India” campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed all top bureaucrats to cut down on red tape by simplifying time-consuming procedures by April 15.
In a recent meeting with secretaries of all Union ministries as well as chief secretaries of states, the Prime Minister directed them to take “strict action” for improving ease of doing business, highly-placed sources privy to the development told this newspaper. To ensure this, bureaucrats were asked to simplify all official procedures by making all processes online with simple formats, avoiding repetition of unnecessary questions and information as these take time. They have been given time till April 15 to implement these directives, sources added.
Reviewing the progress made towards facilitating ease of doing business in the country, Mr Modi said during the meeting that though some positive developments have been made by some states towards enhancing investment, greater efforts are required to maintain the tempo and create a positive perception of the country among overseas investors.
The strict directive given by Mr Modi comes in the wake of the fact that the government has not been able to get the Bankruptcy Bill passed in Parliament. If passed, the proposed legislation will be a major step towards ensuring ease of doing business in India.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2015, which will to replace the existing bankruptcy laws, aims to enact a comprehensive law to deal with insolvency of corporates and simplify investors’ exit. The proposed law will cover individuals, companies, limited liability partnerships, partnership firms and proposes a time-bound framework of 180 days, extendable by another 90 days. Currently, it takes, on average, more than four years to resolve insolvency. Last month, finance minister Arun Jaitley had hoped that the bankruptcy legislation would be passed in the second part of the Budget Session when it begins again on April 25. The government is keen to get it passed along with the GST Bill, as this would give a push to the reforms process, sources said.
