As a part of its initiative to increase the ease of doing business, the Jharkhand government is planning to roll out a ₹25-crore scheme to make offices paperless.

The scheme will be carried out up to the district level. Jharkhand ranked third in the State-wise World Bank survey last year. The state stood first in labour regulations compliance.

A Cabinet decision in this regard will be taken within two weeks to entrust the work to PwC, according to Chief Minister Raghubar Das. He was in the city for a roadshow to attract investment. “The aim is to make every file and its approval process digital. Nextgen will be designing the software for the purpose,” Das said in an exclusive interview to BusinessLine.

CM Dashboard

According to Sumit Barnwal, Secretary IT and Industry, the paperless or “e-office scheme” will be topped up with an information dashboard, called CM Dashboard.

The dashboard will help check implementation of priority schemes on real-time basis, identify shortcomings of projects and help rectify them. The project will cost ₹34 crore and is set for implementation soon, he said.

Better road conditions

Asked about the prospect of maintaining the ease of doing business ratings in the current phase of the survey, Das said, “We will do better.” The dynamic ranking, he said, so far acknowledges Jharkhand’s attractiveness as an investment destination.

Once known for pathetic infrastructure, Jharkhand, the Chief Minister said, has made dramatic improvement in road conditions.

NHAI recently terminated the ₹1,650-crore contract for Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway for fund diversion, leading to slow progress. An effort is now on to put the highway construction on fast track.

That apart, the State made rapid progress in improving condition of State highways and rural roads. Effort is also under way to improve the electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Power transmission

According to a National Sample survey in 2012, three-fourth of rural population in Jharkhand were outside electricity map. This was largely due to infra gap.

Having come to power in December 2014, the BJP government in Jharkhand started working in this direction. “We are now implementing schemes which were proposed as early as 2005,” a State official said underlining the distance to be crossed.

Das said the steps initiated would start yielding results by the end of 2017.

Investment proposals

According to the Chief Minister, the State has received investment proposals worth ₹21,000 crore in last 12 months. Among the key proposals are a pit-head power station and coal-based chemicals project by Adani group.

Jharkhand will soon organise roadshows abroad to attract foreign investment. Investment summits will be organised in the US and Canada in September, followed by Australia and New Zealand in November December.

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