NEW DELHI: India Inc reacted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that 1,200 archaic laws have been done away with, by pointing out that there is still scope for further reforms. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Shobana Kamineni pointed out that if more best practices were implemented and followed across the country, India’s position in the ease of doing business rankings would further improve. “India’s jump in the rankings is a phenomenal achievement of this government..,” said Kamineni, adding that risk profiling of industry sectors can be explored by the government to bring in a differential exemption regime. “Low risk sectors, for example, need not apply for certain approvals,” she suggested.
Going on to appreciate the work done by the government in removing around 1,200 archaic laws from the law books, Kamineni pointed out that there is still scope for some improvement. “Enforcing contracts is an area where the rank can be improved. Some archaic and outdated laws related to various issues can be further simplified,” she suggested. Meanwhile, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Pankaj Patel, pointed out that the government should also consider reforms in the area of regulators as they impact the cost as well as ease of doing business significantly.
The jump in rankings, Patel said, reflected the government’s determination to take “bold and far reaching reforms” required to transform India into a New India. “There are number of areas where our rank may not have improved significantly. But, at least the direction is there to make that process more efficient and simpler in terms of compliance,” he said.
Patel enumerated certain areas that could see more improvement, including starting a business, construction permits, enforcing contracts, registering property and other such areas. These would enhance the efficient functioning of the business organisations, he said. According to the World Bank, India’s rank on ‘ease of doing business’ scale has risen from 130th to 100th this year, helped by a slew of reforms in taxation, licensing, investor protection and bankruptcy resolution.