New Delhi: Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), has said that as many as 16 states of India had scored over 80 per cent in the World Bank- DIPP ranking of States based on 340 parameters on ‘Ease of Doing Business’.
Abhishek, while addressing the 41st Joint Meeting of India-Japan Business Cooperation Committee (IJBCC), said the ‘Make of India’ programme of the government has spurred strong competition among Indian states in improving the ease of doing business in order to attract investments and drive the economies of their regions.
“We are trying to address specific policy issues that would hasten the pace of reforms and remain determined on taking up issues in areas such as infrastructure and taxation to improve the manufacturing competitiveness in States”, he emphasised.
The DIPP Secretary said that the landmark Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will be operational from April 2017 would create a level-playing field for manufacturers in States.
Currently, manufacturers have to bear the burden of a large number of state taxes which raises the cost of manufacturing; come April, this will be a thing of the past. GST, he added, would speed up the movement of goods; there will be greater predictability in assured transportation that will bring down the cost of holding inventories.
On the occasion, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, urged Japanese companies to rapidly move into the Indian market as the process of infrastructure creation and reforms will throw up ample opportunities for investment.
Japanese companies, he said, must learn from Maruti’s India story which has brought in a culture of manufacturing excellence to India.
He said in the governance structure in India today, there is consistency, clarity and predictability of policy.
Evidence of this can be found in the structured changes that have been brought about on business process engineering and the enactment of the bankruptcy law. The India story for Japanese companies has just begun, Kant said, adding that while Japanese companies were over-exposed in China, their future lies in India.
A Joint Statement issued at the end of the meeting noted that the two sides discussed potential areas of cooperation between India and Japan, such as pharmaceuticals and Information Technology.
IJBCC highlighted the issues on market access in these areas, such as the below par share of Indian companies in the Japanese drug market and the low share of India’s IT services in the Japanese IT market. The Indian side also sought improvement on the certificate of eligibility for Indian persons intending to obtain business visa for Japan.
To increase two-way investment, it was considered imperative for both India and Japan to proactively address the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) negotiations.
Source: The Navhind Times
