MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, June 27: As the country awaits the next Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) ranking of the states and Union Territories (UTs), likely to be released this week, Jharkhand businessmen have no consensus on where the state is headed.
EoDB is a key indicator of the investment friendly business climate in the region. The last EoDB ranking, released in September 2020, had placed Jharkhand at the fifth position. The central government is likely to release the next EoDB on June 30.
Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) President Dheeraj Taneja, “The last couple of years has not been normal due to the pandemic. But speaking about the performance of Jharkhand, there has been no change at all.
“The Single Window System (SWS) is absolutely defunct. There are no timelines for the clearances from respective departments. I don’t know how Jharkhand fares so well in EoDB. Nobody contacted us for our views. In fact, we do not value the ranking much.”
Similar views were shared by the Jamshedpur based body of traders and industrialists – Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).
“It will be a big achievement if we maintain the last position. No new industry has been set up in the last five years. The power scenario in the Kolhan region has resulted in closure of some of the industries for which energy consumption is a major component.
“We need simplification of government processes, effective SWS, trading clusters in each district and micro land clusters for easy land acquisition. Bidding process should be replaced by a lottery system for allotment of plots up to 10,000 square feet,” said SCCI President Vijay Anand Moonka.
While a large section of state’s businessmen may paint a gloomy picture of the business environment in Jharkhand, the state council of India’s leading industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) sees a lot of improvement in the state despite difficult times.
“Things are moving in the right direction in Jharkhand. There are improvements on many fronts. Law and order has improved. You can file applications related to different departments and view the status in the Single Window System. Some departments like pollution may have to be approached separately.
“CII has submitted positive recommendations for the state’s development and to increase its revenue. We have suggested and identified spots for religious and eco tourism. To stop wastage of farm produce (about one-third remains unsold), a PPP model has been suggested. The state government has to attract anchor companies. Even one mobile assembling company in the state can help 30 to 50 MSMEs,” said CII Jharkhand State Council Chairman Tapas Sahu.
Harishwar Dayal, leading economist and Director in Chief, Centre for Fiscal Studies, Government of Jharkhand, is even more positive about the state’s performance during the last few years of recession followed by pandemic.
“While all the states were equally affected due to the recession and pandemic, industry in Jharkhand was relatively less affected due to the reverse migration. Many girls were rescued or facilitated from garment industries across the country. Some were absorbed in local garment factories.
“There has been a recovery in MSMEs in the state. As for the EoDB, regulations have been made more favourable to the industry. Labour reforms have taken place long back and the labour market is supportive of the industry. However, land problems persist,” said Dayal.
