Committee for Reforming the Regulatory Environment for Doing Business in India

The
Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has established a 20-member committee to
make recommendations to improve the regulatory environment for conducting
business in India. Some of the background to this effort is contained in the MCA’s
office
memorandum
:
1.
The report of The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, entitled
“Doing Business 2012: Doing business in a very Transparent World”, India has
been ranked at a low of 132 amongst a sample of 183 countries. Although, there
is a seven – point improvement over 2010 ranking of 139. However, India
continues to lag behind even the BRIC and SAARC countries on most of the
parameters.
2.
Easing of business environment mandates extensive examination of regulations in
different areas of root functioning such as financial reforms, governance
reforms, liberalized policy framework, process reforms, etc.,. Thus there is a
need to conduct an in-depth study into the entire gamut of regulatory framework
and come out with a detailed roadmap for improving the climate of business in
India in a time bound manner. Such an exercise needs to be undertaken for
periodical improvement in the ranking, leading to a situation where India
gradually moves towards upward position with almost zero hassles.
The
committee is expected to hold consultations and invite opinions, and present a
report in six months.

Unsurprisingly, this comes close on the heels of
various concerns regarding policy paralysis and retrograde steps that have
resulted in India’s image waning as an investment destination. While this is likely
to assuage some of the concerns from a perception standpoint, it is not certain
if the consultation and recommendations could result in concrete measures given
that the terms of reference of the committee are somewhat wide and open-ended.

About the author

Umakanth Varottil

Umakanth Varottil is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. He specializes in corporate law and governance, mergers and acquisitions and cross-border investments. Prior to his foray into academia, Umakanth was a partner at a pre-eminent law firm in India.

5 comments

  • very pertinent observation.but still it is a right step in the right direction.i feel that there is a serious need to reduce the trust deficit between the government and the people.these days, whatever the government tries to do, it is always discredited or belittled by the people.

  • One way forward is for more NRIs to enter into high level national politics in India who have different perceptions of transparency, which may very slowly change Indian culture and politics.

  • We company secretaries are torch bearers of Corporate Governance not only in India but world wide…..It is really surprising to know that not a single nominee from ICSI..As Corporate Governance is a Buzz word these days and undoubtedly Company Secretaries pays a pivotal role in promotiong corporate governance worldwide.

    Himanshu Harbola

    In-House Legal Counsel and Company Secretray

  • So they set up a 20 member committee to recommend regulatory reforms. The size of the committee says much, doesn't it? First recommendation is to cut down the size of the Govt and such committees!

  • Dear Mr. Harbola,

    Promoter listens to the CFO and the CS has to listen to the Promoter and CFO both. That's the ground level reality.

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