Guwahati, August 2: Assam chief secretary Ravi Kota called for greater interaction between the government and stakeholders in order to ensure successful business ventures.
Addressing the inaugural session of the “ICC (Indian Chamber of Commerce) Guest of the Month on Ease of Doing Business” here on Friday, Kota said, “Though at first glance, ease of doing business as a subject appears quite simple, much detailing goes into making every venture a success story. Interaction between the government and the stakeholders at every level is important as it will benefit the industry at large.”
The chief secretary said that customised policy incentives have invited investments in the state, culminating in the largest ever investment of the Rs 27,000 crore Tata Semiconductor Plant at Jagiroad in Morigaon. “These are self-speaking and shining examples of the continued efforts of the chief minister to improve the business environment in Assam,” he said.
Notably, Assam has significantly improved its business ecosystem since the inception of the Assam Ease of Doing Business Act in 2016. Since then, it has been a continuous process of evolution to meet the needs of the business community.
It may be mentioned that in the year 2016, to support the business community through a single window agency, the Assam EoDB Portal with 15 services from seven departments was launched.
The portal now offers 241 services across 17 departments. As of today, the portal has received 24,30,357 applications, of which 24,08,014 (99.08 percent) have been delivered.
On the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) initiative, Kota said that it aimed to improve the business climate by streamlining regulations and procedures for businesses operating in the country which was implemented under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in collaboration with various states and Union Territories.
He also said that the government was playing a proactive role by providing a helping hand to youths of Assam who are venturing into start-ups. “So far, 257 start-ups have been incubated, raising more than Rs 74 crore in external funding,” he said.
Kota also had an extensive interaction session with all stakeholders in the meeting covering the entire spectrum of business and industry environment in the state.