Centre lauds Bengal's business-friendly initiatives

Atul Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion of the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, which runs the “Make In India” programme, said that these steps would definitely help business houses set up their enterprises in the State.

He was speaking at a workshop "Doing Business In West Bengal - the Next Level" organised by the State Commerce & Industries and MSME Departments to share the initiatives taken by State and Central Governments with business-persons and chambers of commerce.

Chaturvedi said that a study was currently on evaluate and rank the business-friendliness of the state governments.

“I am hopeful that we will see West Bengal get a good rank when the ranking is released in August,” he added.

In his address, Sanjay Mitra, Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal, said: “In the past four years, the West Bengal Government has cut through time-consuming and resource-draining procedures – the foe of any business – to spur growth. It has embarked upon smart public administration and e-initiatives that are crucial for industrial competitiveness and economic growth.”

"Many initiatives have been taken in this direction by various departments of the State Government in the last few months. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Government of India, too has made its own assessment on the ease of doing business and recommended further steps necessary to give a fillip to industry," he added.

He said the Government had consistently tried to simplify and speed up procedures that would benefit all businesspersons.

From major industrial establishments to micro, small and medium scale enterprises, including food and agri industries, all stand to benefit from the slew of initiatives started by the State Government, he added.

At the workshop, senior officials of the Government of West Bengal and the Government of India held fruitful and frank interactions with businesspersons and other stakeholders. Officials of the Central Government also shared the details of the Make In India programme – a major new national program designed to transform India into a global manufacturing hub. Speakers also pointed out the synergies between the initiatives being taken by the State and Central Governments.

Rajiva Sinha, Principal Secretary, Department of Micro, Small And Medium Scale Enterprises, said: “The challenges of availability of all statutory information in public domain, introduction of web-based and online services, simplification of government procedures, ease of making application, cutting down unnecessary paper work and timely delivery of services have been addressed.”

The endeavour has been to make the process of setting up a business in the state and running it as easy as it could be. Simplification of the process of getting trade license, building plan sanction, delinking approvals from other departments that do not add value to decision making by the concerned department, faster mutation and conversion of land, replacing affidavits and gazetted officer attestation by self-declaration/attestation, appropriate delegation and decentralization have guided these initiatives. Necessary amendments in labour laws are being undertaken.

Getting fire license, environment clearance, power connection etc have become easier and time bound. The Right to Service Act of the State Government lays down a definite deadline to provide various services to citizens. The services covered under the Act are reviewed regularly and more and more services are being added to the list.

The whole range of tax administration has been made online. Single window system has been set up at Shilpa Sathi at WBIDC for large industries. MSMEs get the same facility through MSME Facilitation Centres (MFC) in districts. In addition, Departments of the State Government have taken many other pioneering initiatives in implementing Government’s policies with the objective of extending a conducive and business friendly environment in the State.