NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor Tarajit Singh Sandhu on Thursday reviewed the progress of the city’s deregulation and compliance reduction exercise, aimed at making it easier to do business and improve everyday life for residents. He set a deadline of November-end for the completion of actions on all priority areas.
At the previous review meeting, Sandhu had stressed the need for Delhi to keep pace with other states in implementing the reforms, describing the initiative as a priority being driven by the Prime Minister’s office. Departments were then asked to complete pending measures ahead of the August 31, 2026, deadline and specify when they would notify the remaining priority reforms.
Taking stock of the progress since then, the L-G pointed out that while achievements under Phase I are apparent, progress under Phase II is ongoing, with a majority of the 28 identified goals achieved. It was informed that under Phase I, launched in January 2025 with 23 priority areas, 22 now stand completed, up from 17 at the last meeting.
One Priority Area, on rationalising the minimum road width for industries in rural areas, will be finalised soon. Urbanisation of the 48 rural villages had been completed, and the Gazette notification for the same has been published.
Under Phase II, launched in January 2026 most of the 23 Priority Areas and 05 Optional Priority Areas had been completed, and the remaining were under advanced stages of implementation. This was up from 7 at the last meeting.
These include removal of dual licences by MCD, perpetual registration for shops and commercial establishments, electricity connections up to 200 kW without inspection, higher frequency of SEAC and SEIAA meetings, removal of the minimum land requirement for private schools and the Delhi-Dastavez digital repository of State Acts, Rules and Government Orders.
The only priority area pending is with regard to redefining the land use framework on the “permitted until prohibited” principle, which is related to the PM-UDAY scheme. Also, the Delhi Ease of Doing Business Bill, 2026, has been approved by the Cabinet and forwarded to MHA along with the comments of DDA. Also, the Delhi Private University Bill, carrying reforms on minimum land, endowment and infrastructure requirements, was approved by the Cabinet.
