Ease of Doing Business Reforms

• 27 Dec 2023

Why in News?

According to the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Rajasthan has become the 6th State in the country to successfully undertake “Ease of Doing Business” reform. Thus, the State has become eligible to mobilise additional financial resources of Rs. 2,731 crore through Open Market Borrowings.

• The other five states on the list are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

Key Points

• The ease of doing business is an important indicator of the investment friendly business climate in the country.
• In May 2020, the Government of India granted additional borrowing permissions to States who undertake the reforms to facilitate ease of doing business. The reforms set forth in this category are:
  • Completion of first assessment of ‘District Level Business Reform Action Plan’.
  • Elimination of the requirements of renewal of registration certificates/approvals/licences obtained by businesses under various Acts.
  • Allocation of inspectors by implementation of computerized central random inspection system.
• To address the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government increased the borrowing limit of the States by 2% of their Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Half of this allowance was tied to the States implementing citizen-centric reforms in four areas:
  • Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card System
  • Ease of doing business reform
  • Urban Local body/ utility reforms
  • Power Sector reforms

Note

Open Market Borrowings (OMBs) is a method of raising funds by corporates or government entities by issuing securities such as bonds, debentures, or treasury bills to the public.

• These securities are issued in the open market and are available to purchase by anyone interested in investing in them. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulates the OMBs in India.