Report of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce on Ease of Doing Business

Syllabus: GS2/ Governance, GS3/ Economy

Context

• The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, presented its 201st Report titled “Doing Business in India: The Way Forward” to both Houses of Parliament.

What is Ease of Doing Business

• Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) refers to the extent to which the regulatory, administrative and institutional environment enables businesses to start, operate, expand and close with minimum cost, time and procedural hurdles.

India’s Progress in Ease of Doing Business

• India improved its rank in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019, reflecting significant improvements in the regulatory environment.
• India’s position in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking improved from 43 in 2021 to 41 in 2025.
• India has consistently been placed in Group A of the World Bank’s GovTech Maturity Index, indicating advanced digital governance capabilities.
• The Government’s Reducing Compliance Burden (RCB) initiative has resulted in more than 47,000 compliances being reduced, simplified, digitised or decriminalised across Central and State legislations.

Initiatives taken by Government

• National Single Window System (NSWS): It Provides an integrated platform for businesses to apply for various Central and State approvals.
  • The State-level single-window systems have been integrated with NSWS through API-based linkages.
• Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP): BRAP promotes competitive federalism by encouraging States and UTs to undertake business reforms.
  • It seeks to improve the regulatory environment through reforms in areas such as approvals, inspections and business services.
• Jan Vishwas Reforms have decriminalised hundreds of minor business-related offences. These reforms have reduced the fear of criminal prosecution for procedural violations and encouraged voluntary compliance.
• Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) has improved liquidity for MSMEs by enabling faster realisation of payments from corporate buyers and government entities.
• PM GatiShakti National Master Plan: The initiative promotes integrated infrastructure planning across sectors.
  • It reduces project delays and improves coordination among government agencies.

Challenges

• Uneven State-Level Performance: The implementation of reforms varies across States and between major industrial centres and rural areas. This creates an uneven business environment across the country.
• Infrastructure Bottlenecks: Regulatory and infrastructure constraints continue to increase logistics costs as gaps remain in multimodal connectivity, warehousing, cold chains, cargo handling and last-mile connectivity.
• Limited Access to Credit: MSMEs, start-ups and first-generation entrepreneurs face high documentation requirements, collateral constraints and uneven credit availability.
• Fragmented Regulatory Framework: Businesses continue to face multiple licences, approvals and overlapping inspections by different departments. Parallel inspections under different laws result in duplication of effort.

Recommendations of the Committee

• The Department may strengthen the Regulatory Compliance Portal by integrating real-time grievance redressal and performance metrics to ensure effective implementation of compliance reforms at the ground level.  
• The Committee recommends rationalization and consolidation of regulatory frameworks by adopting risk-based regulations and increasing the use of self-certification and third-party certification.
• Ensure effective implementation of Jan Vishwas reforms and replace criminal penalties for minor administrative errors with proportionate civil penalties.

Source: PIB