Gujarat Once Again Praised for Land Approvals

Within days of a Commerce Ministry report praising Gujarat, a Planning Commission sponsored study lists Narendra Modi-led Gujarat as one of top performing states in the country in terms of business regulatory environment.

According to a Deloitte study, which was commissioned by Planning Commission, Gujarat was among the best states having business friendly environment with regard to granting land and building related approvals.

Although, the study did not rank the states, it grouped those in three categories - top, middle and bottom - based on various parameters.

This includes finance and tax related compliances, labour law related compliances, infrastructure and utilities related approvals, and environment clearances.

Gujarat, along with eight other states including BJP led Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh figure in the top category. The other states in this category are Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

Earlier, a Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) study, which was conducted by Accenture, had said, "The model followed by Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation oversees and ensures reduction in complexity across all processes in getting land.

"And, although, there might be some implementation issues but it is still wholesome and addresses concerns of all the relevant stakeholders," the study had said.
However the track record of Gujarat with regard to labour laws related compliances has not been rated high. According to the Deloitte study, Gujarat was placed in the bottom category of states in this parameter.

Besides, it was placed at the middle level category for average performance on environment clearances parameter.

The study covered all 28 states and was carried out over a 5-month period starting from September 2013.

On the basis of overall rating, the study has placed Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal in the middle category for business regulatory practices.

The states figuring in the bottom list of the study are - Arunachal Pradesh Assam, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya Sikkim and Tripura.