Chandigarh, June 4:- The Haryana Government is taking forward new generation regulatory and regulatory reforms to promote ease of doing business. These include the proposed Right to Business Framework, demand-driven land use planning, rational fire safety norms, integrated approval system in the health sector and developing a centralized digital repository of laws and government notifications.
In a high-level meeting held to review the progress of the first and second phases of the campaign to reduce compliance burden and relax regulations, Special Secretary to the Cabinet Secretariat Shri K.K. Pathak and Haryana Chief Secretary Shri Anurag Rastogi directed the departments to expedite reforms to reduce compliance burden, improve ease of doing business and strengthen citizen-centric governance.
Mr. Rastogi said that these reforms are aimed at making the governance system more transparent, technology-driven and convenient. At the same time, it is to reduce unnecessary regulatory hurdles for citizens, entrepreneurs and investors.
It was informed in the meeting that several significant improvements have already been made in the land use permissions, industrial permissions, environmental approvals and self-certification systems. The number of documents required for obtaining Change of Land Use (CLU) permission has been reduced from 19 to just 3, while auto-CLU. system has been implemented for industrial areas.
Dr. Amit Kumar Agarwal, Commissioner and Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, said that in about 70 percent of the geographical area of ??the state, CLU. permission is not required. This has given more flexibility to landowners and investors. He said that the state government is also working towards expanding the automated approval system to other categories.
He said that significant reforms have also been made in the rules related to industrial development. Flexibility has been increased in the use of industrial land, project modification, sub-leasing and plot management. Measures to encourage subdivision of industrial plots are likely to make industrial land more accessible and affordable for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The Haryana Enterprise Promotion Centre is being further strengthened as a single window facility for multi-departmental approvals for investors and is emerging as a comprehensive investor support platform.
The rules related to floor area ratio, ground coverage and setback norms have also been relaxed to promote ease of doing business and maximize utilization of industrial land.
The meeting focused on promoting self-certification and third-party certification systems in the state. Officials said that occupation certificates for low-risk buildings are being issued on the basis of self-certification, while the third-party certification system is being expanded for high-risk categories. Similar reforms are also being implemented in pollution control and fire safety approvals.
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board has reduced the approval period for ‘Consent to Establish’ and ‘Consent to Operate’ from 30 working days to 21 working days. The facility of auto-renewal has also been introduced for eligible industries, which will significantly reduce compliance cost and procedural delays.
Efforts are also being made to simplify the stringent norms related to land and infrastructure for private educational institutions. Similarly, initiatives are being taken towards developing a more smooth and result-oriented regulatory environment in the higher education sector.
Steps are being taken to streamline the approval processes in the health sector through a single nodal mechanism and to simplify the registration requirements of medical professionals. Compliance procedures are being simplified to encourage hospitality-related projects, affordable housing facilities and private investment in the tourism sector.
The Chief Secretary also reviewed the progress of the proposed centralized digital repository. Through this platform, citizens, businesses and government departments will get easy access to the state’s acts, rules, regulations, government orders and policies, thereby boosting transparency and regulatory certainty.
Directing the departments to maintain consistency in the implementation of reforms, Shri Rastogi said that the programme of reducing compliance and relaxation of regulations will further strengthen the state’s position as a preferred destination for investment, manufacturing, innovation and employment generation.
Additional Chief Secretary of Town and Country Planning Department Mr. Anurag Agarwal, Director General of Fire Services Department Mr. Shekhar Vidyarthi, Director General of Industries and Commerce Department Mr. Yash Garg, Director of Town and Country Planning Department Mr. Amit Khatri and Chairman of Haryana State Pollution Control Board Mr. Vinay Pratap Singh along with other senior officials were present in the meeting.