Government seeks public feedback to bring down multiple permissions for investors

NEW DELHI: The government today sought views of the public on ways to cut down on multiple permissions for investors, a move aimed at promoting ease of doing business in the country.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has already constituted an 11-member expert committee on the matter.

It would examine the possibility of replacing multiple prior permissions in starting a business with a pre-existing regulatory mechanism and preparing a draft legislation for this purpose.

"Suggestions on the subject have been invited from the public," the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement.

The terms of reference of the committee include studying the requirement of various prior permissions with an exhaustive inventory and examining the possibility of replacing these prior permissions with a pre-existing (proposed) regulatory mechanism.

It would identify safeguards to be put in place while replacing the system of prior permission and integrating the same in the proposed regulatory mechanism, recommend a framework and draft the proposed legislation.

Former Secretary with DIPP Ajay Shankar is chairman of the panel, whose members include Airtel Vice-President Manoj Kohli and Jaijit Bhattacharya, partner at consulting firm KPMG.

The move is part of government steps to improve India's ranking in terms of ease of doing business in the country. The government is looking to take the rank within 50, from 142 at present.

Improvement in the ranking would help attract investments from both domestic and foreign players.