One year after the bifurcation of the state, Andhra Pradesh seems to have made an impact through its investor-friendly initiatives.The World Bank report on Ease of Doing Business has ranked AP 2nd, below Gujarat. Andhra Pradesh is ranked in the category of ‘Aspiring Leaders’ which means the overall implementation status should be between 50 to 75 per cent. Seven states – Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan are part of this group.
Highlighting the good practices of the state, the report states: “Single Desk Policy 2015-20 of the Government of Andhra Pradesh has been formulated to create a facilitative ecosystem to provide all clearances/approvals within 21 working days to set up an industry. All relevant competent authorities are mandated to receive applications and process the same only via Single Desk mechanisms.
Single Desk Mechanism provides for State clearances required for starting an industry across pre establishment and pre operation phases. A Chief Minister’s dashboard has been designed as a tool for effective monitoring of the applications received.” In the World Bank Report released today, the state has been ranked with a score of 70.12 per cent, below Gujarat which stands at the top with a score of 71.14 per cent. “We are now targeting the number one position. We will soon make it to the list of “leaders” category by falling in the 76-98 point score card,” Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said, congratulating the Industries Department for implementing initiatives which made AP investor-friendly.
The report assesses implementation status of 98-point reform measures across the following eight areas: Setting up a business, Allotment of land and obtaining construction permit, Complying with environment procedures, Complying with labour regulations, Obtaining infrastructure related utilities, Registering and complying with tax procedures, Carrying out inspections and Enforcing contracts.
The key initiatives implemented by AP according to he WB report are
1. Single window: Offers an online single window portal with clearly defined timelines for application filing, tracking and approvals.
2. Registration: Issue spot approvals for various registrations with only scrutiny of basic documents.
3. Labour: Deemed approval for factory registration upon SelfCertification.
4. Labour: Allocate inspectors randomly and introduced computerized risk assessment-based inspections under various laws.
5. Labour: Implemented an online system for registrations and renewals under various laws with no physical touch points.
6. Land: Implemented an advanced query- and layer-based web system to identify industrial land, connectivity & infrastructure.
7. Taxes: Implemented an online system for registrations and return filing under VAT and other State taxes. The report states that Single-window system should be a time-bound service delivery for at least any four of the following registration or licensing processes: Labor, Environment, Land Allotment, Construction Permits, Power/electricity connections and State taxes. “Only Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh have scored Yes on all 4 of these questions,” the World Bank Report stated.
Further, World Bank added that Andhra Pradesh has also implemented an effective online single-window system with provision for filing, payment, status tracking, online scrutiny and approval of applications.
The report also lauds Andhra Pradesh’s efforts in implementing a Single-Desk Portal for online clearances and for having comprehensive details of land bank available online. Simultaneously, Andhra Pradesh, according to the World Bank, provides clarity on the timelines involved in deciding on applications which enable entrepreneurs to plan effectively in terms of making investment decisions.
Source:Indian Express
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