CII believes that improving the investment climate in India, along with policy reform measures, could help add around 15 million jobs annually

Economic reforms since 1991 have transformed India into a fast-paced   economy that is rapidly raising incomes, plugging into global supply chains and developing a diversified and advanced industrial sector. India’s energetic entrepreneurs are key growth drivers, vibrant and dynamic participants in the national and global economies. Yet the country’s environment for doing business is rated poorly on most counts, and slow processes have muted the potential for growth.
If India is to quickly recover from its current phase of economic slowdown, it must boost investments and their efficiency. A central factor in this objective would be to streamline the ‘ease of doing business,’ a term that relates to the entire administrative and regulatory structure of a country’s investment scenario.
According to CII, improving the investment climate in India – along with policy reform measures – could help add as many as 15 million jobs annually. The investment climate in India is a complex mix of laws, policies and regulations introduced by the Central Government, State Governments, and regulatory agencies. The Ease of Doing Business parameters chiefly relate to administrative and procedural issues. If such procedures in the form of approvals and clearances are not timely and efficient, they can add to transaction costs of the economy, delay projects, discourage new enterprise and ultimately hamper the creation of new jobs. On the other hand, time-bound, clear and transparent procedural systems can streamline the business environment and attract much higher investments. Empirically, it has been found that those Indian States that offer better investment climates tend to attract more investments, both from domestic and overseas sources. Many States have evolved best practices across areas – the need is to collate such practices and adapt them among other States, to improve the investment climate across the country.

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Anand Sharma calls for national corpus to fund political parties and increase transparency

Anand Sharma calls for national corpus to fund political parties and increase transparency

Crony capitalism that appears to have hijacked the ongoing narrative is a wrong perception that cannot be sustained, industry and commerce minister Anand Sharma said, delivering the inaugural address at the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry in the capital on Wednesday. “I refute the perception created with theatrical colors of crony capitalism. This is untrue and it must not be sustained,” Mr Sharma said adding that new changes demand electoral reforms where a national corpus could be created for political parties to ensure transparency in the political process.

While ,India, like any other country in other parts of the world has its share of frauds like the Satyam case, the one by chit funds or even the latest Sahara case, there is a robust system that demands accountability. “Yes there are aberrations but corrections do take place,” the minister said elaborating on the theme set by CII “Managing change: role of leadership and institutions.”

Leadership, according to Mr Sharma, would need to adapt and innovate to meet the new changes and challenges. Hinting at the negative narrative that has clouded the investment climate he said that the government has to keep its responsibilities of a welfare state in mind while framing policies. Citing an example, Mr Sharma said that while a lot is made out of scams particularly in natural resources, the government is guided by the philosophy of welfare state where natural resources have to be shared and profit maximisation cannot be its objective.

The government’s job is to provide services in crucial areas like health, education and ensure that citizens rights’ are protected. The UPA government had worked towards enabling citizens with rights like the right to information, right to education, right to livelihood and right to food among others, he said while emphasising that the judiciary has to ensure that rights are protected and is affordable and accessible.

Touching upon key areas of reforms the industry minister spoke of the need for electoral and judicial reforms that could bring in transparency and increase accountability in the political process. “Policy makers have to make policies and be accountable to the people who elect them,” while the judiciary should work towards reducing pending cases so that justice is delivered in time.

In his last address as Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Anand Sharma lauded the role played by industry in spearheading and managing change in the past 10 years. He was speaking at the CII national conference and annual session in New Delhi on Wednesday. Presenting virtually a score-card of the past two regimes of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the minister underlined the fact that progress on every front had been impressive – government funding of education had increased eight times, foreign direct investment (FDI) had gone up by 15 times and the expenditure on health had jumped six times. Commenting on the aptness of the theme “Managing Change: Role of Leadership & Institutions”, he said leadership was important at every level in business, administration, judiciary and media

Elaborating on changes and reforms, Mr Anand Sharma said a that any government will have to be led by liberalisation coupled with a sustainable regulatory system. The minister also emphasised the role of a free and vocal media he also cautioned that there was a need to have regulatory mechanisms in this sector as is the case worldwide.

Welcoming Mr Sharma at the annual session, CII President Mr S Gopalakrishnan said CII was fortunate to have benefited from the guidance of the minister with whom its leaders travelled to 11 countries and he was also the chief guest at 24 of the chamber’s events. Employment generation, working with labour unions, education, skill development, modernisation of manufacturing sector, taxation, governance and competitive solutions for medium,small and micro-enterprises (MSMEs) were among the areas which he said CII was working on.

`President-designate Mr Ajay Shriram thanked the minister for the policy initiatives of his government which he said had borne fruit. Stability of the rupee and approval of 16 new manufacturing corridors were initiatives which were going to be of tremendous benefit to industry. He also lauded the New Manufacturing Policy which incorporates several recommendations of CII and ended by saying that the chamber looked forward to working with the minister in his new avatar.

CII welcomes focus on speedy project implementation and modernisation in Railways

 

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has called for revamping and restructuring of the Indian Railways by developing a sustainable financial model to ensure feasibility of projects. Revamping of the Railway tariff, allowing FDI in railways and encouraging Joint Ventures and PPPs must be explored to access funds. 

CII also welcomes the Government’s emphasis on bringing investment into the Indian Railways through FDI and PPP projects.

CII has been calling for higher investments in rail infrastructure which may be achieved by faster implementation of key railway projects, such as the Dedicated Freight Corridor, high-speed rail corridors, procurement of rolling stock and other capacity enhancement works. Also there is a need to establish clearly defined policies and developing model documents for PPP development, ensuring transparency about the methodology and thought process behind various policy and operational issues that impact private investments. Streamlined and time-bound approvals for all projects by setting up a dedicated cell with a single window policy will help in expediting the implementation of projects. 

CII calls for the creation of a formal consultative mechanism between industry and Indian Railways for regular interaction to take up matters related to policy and strategy.

‘The honorable minister’s statement, in the interim budget, to focus on continuing investment in important projects is a very encouraging move’, said Mr Tilakraj Seth, Executive Vice President (Infrastructure and cities, sector cluster lead, South Asia), Siemens Ltd. and Vice Chairman, CII Rail Transportation and Equipment Division. ‘While this is an interim budget (vote on account) Ministry of Railways should focus on speedy project implementation and address structured measures in the next regular budget. The message in the interim budget on enhancing Rail network to include unconnected regions is welcome as it will enhance Rail revenue share’, he further added. 

Commenting on interim Rail Budget 2014-15, Mr Ramesh Maheshwari, Executive Vice Chairman, Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd. and Past President, CII said that ‘it bears special mention that despite the budgetary approval of the Parliament in place, no orders for wagons have been placed on the Industry for 2 successive years – 2012-13 and 2013-14. As a result, the Industry is starved of workload and struggling for survival’.

According to Mr Umesh Chowdhary, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Titagarh Wagons Limited and member, CII Rail Transportation and Equipment Division, ‘the Budget was more like a recap of the Railways’ performance over the current plan period. However a few positives from the Hon’ble Minister’s speech were that he emphasized the importance of the Railways as the essential feature for national development and a sector which needs substantial attention and investments. The Minister has also emphasized upon moving forward with certain critical policies and projects such as FDI in Railways, completion of the DFC to free up existing track capacity, introduction of a freight regulator etc. All of these are extremely positive and essential for the future of the Railways’, said Mr Chowdhary.

‘Over all, I would feel that the budget has been pretty much on expected lines and all expectation and eyes would be towards the maiden Railway Budget of the next Railway Minister in a few months’, said Mr Chowdhary.

CII also welcomes the move to engage with all the stakeholders for fixing of fares and freight by the Independent Rail Tariff Authority.