Minister of Industries & Commerce Chander Parkash Ganga today said that government is also making concerted efforts to improve business climate and state’s ranking on Ease of Doing Business.The Minister said this while chairing J&K State Annual Session 2017-18 on Ease of Doing Business organized by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).Ganga said that enthusiastic support for a Business Action Reform Plan introduced in 2017 by Government of India (GOI) in collaboration with World Bank has led to State climbing up nine positions among other Indian states in the ease of doing business rankings. He said that J&K is now at 22nd rank, up from its previous 31st position. He added that 18 departments of the state are set to bring in 372 reforms, out of which 270 have already been cleared and J&K would soon be listed in the top 15 states in the list of ease of doing business in the country.He called for a coordinated approach from all quarters to lay out a design for improving ease of doing business in the state.The Minister asserted that ease of doing business plays a crucial role in economic growth of the region and setting up business should be made easier for not just big companies but also smaller ones that have less capital and resources at their disposal.
He said that government is committed to provide better job opportunities, facilities for skill development and safe working environment to the established and new entrepreneurs.He exhorted upon all that J&K offers a lot of investment opportunities and the government is ready to welcome investors in the state. Besides, he also exhorted on the need for effective operational strategies to create enhanced opportunities for employment in the state.The Minister informing about efforts being made by the department to further streamline industrial sector under ‘ease of doing business’ including strengthening of single window system, policies for product diversification and business expansion and continuous engagement with stakeholders for better policy formulation, said that for effective implementation of these initiatives, the department is working in collaboration with concerned departments including, Labour, Finance, Fire Services, Pollution Control Board and PDD and Environment.On the occasion, the Minister also released an annual report for the session of 2017-18 on ease of doing business.Among others Deputy Chairman CII Northern Region Sanchit Jain, Regional Director CII Northern Region Babu Ram, CEO Wizkid Consultancy Mushtaq Ahmad and senior officers from the concerned departments were present on the occasion.