Ease of business: UP jumps to 2nd rank

Nivesh Mitra singlewindow system plays key role in state’s big leap, only Andhra Pradesh ahead

LUCKNOW : Uttar Pradesh has jumped to the second position in the ease of doing business annual rankings that union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and union commerce minister Piyush Goyal released in New Delhi on Saturday.

“Uttar Pradesh has jumped from the 12th position in Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) 17-18 to the second position in BRAP 19, taking a remarkable leap of 10 positions. UP has left several leading states like Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra etc behind in this ease of doing business ranking,” an official spokesman said. Uttar Pradesh is behind only Andhra Pradesh now.

Uttar Pradesh has implemented 186 of the 187 reforms suggested by the union government’s department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) under the Business Reform Action Plan 19.

“This year’s exercise was completely based on ‘User feedback’. Therefore, attaining the second rank across the country indicates that entrepreneurs have been receiving the true benefits of these reforms implemented by the government of Uttar Pradesh under the dynamic leadership of chief minister Yogi Adityanath,” the spokesman said.

From May 2020 onwards, the state had also started to rank all its 75 districts according to ‘district-wise ease of doing business,’ the spokesman said. Under State BRAP 20-21, UP has already implemented 170 out of 301 suggested reforms, the spokesman said.

UP’s reforms covered several areas such as labour regulation, online single-window facility, access to information and transparency, land administration, construction permit, commercial disputes and inspection enablers. Over 20 departments such as Invest UP (Udyog Bandhu), labour department, commercial tax, power, stamp and registration, excise, food safety and drug administration, UP Pollution Control Board and many others have been part of the journey on the way to reforms, according to the spokesman.

UP has been able to achieve this top position by successful implementation of the Nivesh Mitra portal. In a period of two years, Nivesh Mitra received around 2,29,936 applications for No-Objection Certificates (NoCs). Out of them, Nivesh Mitra had already disposed of 94% applications to grant NOC/ licenses to entrepreneurs, the spokesman said. Nivesh Mitra is a dedicated single-window system of the UP government.

Industrial development minister Satish Mahana, chief secretary RK Tiwari and infrastructure, industrial development commissioner (IIDC) Alok Tandon and additional chief secretary (infrastructure and industrial development) Alok Kumar have lauded the achievement.

“The chief minister has been emphasising on transparency and best practices in businessto-government (B2G) interactive procedures through the use of technology. Our government has been successful in improving the ease of doing business

by introducing various IT driven modules, Nivesh Mitra is one such successful tool,” said Mahana.

Tandon said, “EoDB (ease of doing business) is testimony to the fact that the Nivesh Mitra portal has now become an integral and efficient part in bridging the gap between the industrial demands and expectations with the government machinery.”

Kumar said, “Maximum approval of BRAP 19 reforms and higher user feedback satisfaction record on Nivesh Mitra portal have played a critical role in achieving this remarkable milestone for Uttar Pradesh. Initiatives like monthly ranking of all 75 districts on EoDB parameters shall further pave a path in attaining many more heights for UP towards creating a conducive business environment.”

Neena Sharma, CEO of Invest UP, said the achievement reflected Nivesh Mitra’s acceptance in the industry. The Nivesh Mitra portal has received 18,120 grievances from entrepreneurs till now, of which 17,752 have been successfully resolved at an outstanding resolution rate of 98%.

Congratulations to #UttarPradesh for making a remarkable quantum jump & coming 2nd in #DPIIT Ease of Doing Business ranking of States. Compliments to CM @myogiadityanath for his immense focus on making UP easy & simple. Transforming UP makes a huge impact & difference to India.