Thirty two per cent is not even the pass percentage, let alone the distinction to qualify for any test. That’s the average score for India in the ‘Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms’ released by the World Bank recently, for reforms at the State level. The highest score for any State is 71.14 per cent in the report which, despite several criticisms, is unique.

Finalised as part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the 98-point action plan was the first in the methodology of the report; data was collected from each State. The responses were than validated through a series of in-depth workshops with State governments. The ranking was done for 32 States/UTs. More importantly, the report is the result of a shared vision of the Centre and States as agreed upon during a ‘Make in India’ workshop on December 29, 2014. Essentially this assessment is a shared responsibility and not a unilateral judgement on the state of affairs.

Burden of regulations The poor average score of 32 per cent is not surprising given the albatross of regulations we have created over the years without assessing the need for many of these regulations to continue. As Peter F Ducker said in Post-Capitalist Society : “Every organisation of the day has to build into its very structure the management of change.” And States are no exception.

Then there were questions raised about the ownership of this report, post release. Is it the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), or the World Bank or an industry chamber such as Ficci that owns the report? Does it matter? One needs to learn from Jharkhand which was a surprise as it ranks third overall leaving behind some of the traditionally industrialised States.

Jharkhand’s labour department is the only one in the country to score 100 per cent on all parameters studied in this assessment across all seven processes. The State offers fully automated experience to users for registration and grant of licences under the labour laws.

The success of the various projects launched by the Prime Minister — Smart Cities, Housing for All, AMRUT, Start-up, Stand-up — would depend upon the progress made to enhance the ease of doing business in terms of starting a business, construction permits, obtaining clearances from utilities and so on.

Similarly, the progress of industrial corridors and national investment and manufacturing zones (NIMZs) are all dependent on how fast States simplify and reform their business environment. Of course, this includes simplifying procedures for land acquisition, which has faced a stonewall much to the detriment of our development.

The impact of reforms The last few months have witnessed a number of reforms in rules and procedures. The impact of some of these will be seen in the coming months as investment activity picks up. Besides simplifying a number of procedures, the ministry of environment, forests and climate change has delegated powers at the regional level to enable faster decision-making. Intensive inter-ministerial deliberations are also under way to conclude the process of streamlining approvals for construction projects in urban areas by the end of this year.

Now, all project clearances can be monitored directly by the PMO. The e-Nivesh portal launched by the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) has got all the departments together to make the clearance process online which can then be monitored for delays. The ministry of civil aviation has formulated the colour coded zoning maps of some airports, which obviates the need for the applicant to go to the ministry for approvals for chimney and building heights.

This report also has a message for the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking which ranks India 142 out of 189 countries. According to the ‘Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms’, Maharashtra and Delhi are ranked 8 and 15 respectively.

The only two cities surveyed for the Ease of Doing Business study are Mumbai and New Delhi. For the next edition, the World Bank must look at Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh for meaningful comparisons with other countries. India will be better placed if these States are considered.

The report clearly reveals there are no leaders amongst the States, only aspiring leaders, implying that a lot more needs to be done, and that would require bold reforms. Such initiatives will lead to healthy competition among the States and lead to the rankings going up. Industry awaits patiently for that.

The writer is the secretary-general of Ficci

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