Centre floats group to goad investment

Karnataka is among the six States in the group formed to clear proposals

The decision emerged at the one day meet of State Industry Secretaries convened by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) here.

Other states, which will be part of the proposed high-powered Group of states include Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, DIPP Secretary Ajay Shankar told reporters after the meeting. Andhra Pradesh will be the convener of the Group. “The Group while studying in depth the present working of the SWS will work out a road map for further promoting industrial investment across the country,” he said.

In view of growing importance of states to play the lead role in investment promotion, the Centre would convene a meeting of State Industry Ministers on November 17 to discuss measures to remove roadblocks coming in the way of industrial investment, Shankar said.

Specific measures

The proposed one day meet of State Industry Ministers, which will be inaugurated by the Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, would focus on specific measures for accelerating industrial investments through creation of a business friendly policy cum procedural environment in the country, he said.

Giving an outline about issues discussed at today’s meet Shankar said the findings of the recent study on “Doing Business in India” by the World Bank covering the state of business regulations across various cities in the country were discussed.

“It was felt that even if all states uniformly follow the national level “Best Practices” in various fields of business activities India’s ranking in doing business at the global level will go up by minimum 55 basis points,” he said.

The meeting also discussed regulatory reforms covering areas such as issue of permits, payment of taxes and provision of utility connections.