TN is 15th in ease of doing business ranking, state says report not acceptable

Tamil Nadu climbed to the 15th spot in the Business Reforms Action Plan 2017 list released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

This is a three-step climb for the state which was at the 18th position in the 2016 list.

The list, released on Tuesday, is an indicator of the ease of doing business in India, judged on two factors – Reform implementation and Business to Government feedback on the reforms claimed to be implemented by the states. It ranks the states and Union Territories combining the scores in Reform Evidence scorecard and Feedback scorecard.

While Tamil Nadu has climbed up three positions from 2016, it still ranks way below Andhra Pradesh and Telangana which grabbed the first and the second places. Tamil Nadu has a score of 90.68 while the two top-ranking states have scores of 98.42 and 98.33 respectively.

This year, TN ranked high in the construction permit enabler with almost 90% of the respondents saying that the reforms that suggested the setting up of a mechanism to obtain construction permits in a hassle-free manner have been implemented.

Among the reforms that have not been included include integrating the process of filing a suit related to commercial activities online has not been implemented in Tamil Nadu, the establishment of a single window system to facilitate and offer inspection services and No Objection Certificates (NOC) by various government agencies.

The government of Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, is in denial of the state ranking lower than Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka in ease of doing business.

TN Minister for Fisheries, D Jayakumar said, "Recently the TN cabinet has given clearance to CEAT tyre industry to set up factory at a cost of Rs 6000 crores in Sriperambudur. While many investors are seeking TN out specifically to start their businesses, the reports like these which peg the state at 12th or 15th position cannot be accepted. TN has always been a leader in industrial investment and in ease of doing business and that status has not changed."

According to the methodology document released by the ministry, feedback was sourced from an array of stakeholders. New business owners, existing business owners, electrical contractors who have applied for new connections in the past year, architects who have applied for building plan approval or occupancy certificate in the past year and lawyers. The DIPP had given the states and the Union Territories a deadline of October 31, 2017 to implement the recommended reforms in the business sector.

The recommendations on which feedback was received include registration and easy compliance under various laws. Feedback was also sought on paper-less courts mechanisms, dispute resolution mechanisms, property registration mechanisms, inspection enabling mechanisms and setting up of a Single Window System as a sole point of contact for setting up of business in the state.

In 2015, Tamil Nadu was in the 12th position and was put in the 'Acceleration required' category. In 2016, Tamil Nadu slipped to the 18th position and maintained the ' Acceleration required' tag.