The new government at the Centre has been in repair-damage mode for instilling confidence among the business community and boosting industrial growth. The emphasis of the government is on rapidly improving ‘ease of doing business’ and launching fresh initiatives like Make in India and Digital India, creating a National Industrial Corridors Authority (NICA), streamlining environment and forest clearances and labour reforms. Some of the major steps taken by the government in this regard are as given below:

Ease of Doing Business

India’s ranking in the ‘Doing Business-2015’ (a World Bank annual report) is very low, at 142nd. To improve India’s ranking, reforms are being undertaken in areas such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registration of property, power supply, paying taxes, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. The important recent measures taken in this regard are:

•  liberalization of licensing and deregulation of a large number of defence products,

•  extending the validity of licences to provide enough time to licensees to procure land and obtain the necessary clearances/approvals from authorities,

•  adoption of a checklist with specific time-lines for processing all applications filed by foreign investors in cases relating to retail and the export-oriented unit (EoU),

•  automation of processes for registration with the Employees Provident Fund Organization and Employees State Insurance Corporation,

•  processing of environment and forest clearances online,

•  reducing the number of documents for exports,

•  adoption of best practices by states in granting clearances and ensuring compliance through peer evaluation, self-certification, etc.

E-Biz Project

Under this, several new steps have been taken by now — (a) Government to Business (G2B) portal is being set up to serve as a one-stop shop for delivery of services to the investors and address the needs of the business and industry from inception through the entire life cycle of the business. (b) The process of applying for industrial licence (IL) and industrial entrepreneur memorandum (IEM) has been made online and this service is now available to entrepreneur on 24x7 basis at the E-Biz website. (c) Other services of the central government are also being integrated.

Skill Development

A new Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has been set up to promote skill and entrepreneurial activities. New steps taken are: (a) Common norms for skill training across central ministries/departments are being evolved. (b) Thirty-one industry/employer-led Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) are now operational and these have been aligned with the twenty-five sectors of ‘Make in India’. (c) To create a common standard for skills training and certification in the country efforts are on to align the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT), school boards, and the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Streamlining Environment and Forest Clearances

New steps in this regard are— (a) A process for online submission of applications for environment, coastal regulation zone (CRZ), and forest clearances has been started. (b) The decision-making process has been decentralised by strengthening federalism. (c) To ensure industrial and education growth, the requirement of environment clearance has been done away with for projects for construction of industrial sheds which house plant and machinery, educational institutions and hostels.

Labour-sector Reforms

New steps regarding labour reforms are: (a) ‘Shram Suvidha’ portal has been launched for online registration of units, filing of self-certified, simplified, single online return by units, introduction of a transparent labour inspection scheme via computerized system as per risk-based criteria, uploading of inspection reports within seventy-two hours and timely redressal of grievances. (b) Universal Account Number (UAN) has been launched facilitating portable, hassle-free, and universally accessible Provident Fund accounts for employees. (c) The Apprentices Act, 1961 has been amended so as to make it flexible and attractive to youth and industry. (d) ‘Apprentice Protsahan Yojana’ has been launched to support micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the manufacturing sector in engaging apprentices.

MAKE IN INDIA

‘Make in India’ campaign is aimed at the revival of the manufacturing sector. The objective is laudable but it faces huge challenges, too. Indian manufacturing has been stagnant at low levels, especially when compared with the East Asian successes.

Out of the two sectors, services and manufacturing, which has got the potential to play the transformational role in case of India, the services sector, contributing over 60 per cent to the GDP in the last decade, makes this even more contemporary debate. Studies and the growth theory suggest that transformational sectors should be assessed in light of their underlying characteristics and not just in terms of the traditional manufacturing-services distinction. There are five such important characteristics in the sector:

•  High levels of productivity (for income increase).

•  Rapid rate of growth of productivity (on both external and domestic fronts— international and domestic convergence, respectively).

•  Ability to attract resources (to spread the benefits to the rest of the economy).

•  Alignment with country’s resources (human resources remain typically unskilled).

•  Tradability of the sector (it determines whether the sector can expand without running into demand constraints).

In 2018, Government has identified ten ‘Champions sectors’ under Make in India 2.0, which have potential to become global champion, drive double digit growth in manufacturing and generate significant employment opportunities. Champions Sectors include Capital goods, Auto and Auto Components, Defence& Aerospace, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, Chemicals, Electronic System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM), Leather & Footwear, Textiles & Apparels, Food Processing, Gems &Jewellery, New & Renewable Energy, Construction, Shipping and Railways.