New Delhi: The State of Odisha is one of the leading states in implementation of Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) or ease of doing business during past two years.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in consultation with the State Governments, started a comprehensive reform exercise called Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) in the year 2015.
In the year 2015, Odisha was at 7th position at all India level in implementation of BRAP, which slipped down to 11th in 2016 and 14 to 2017-18. The rank of the state slipped to all time low, 29, in 2019. However, after that the State made a comeback and was categorized as ‘Achievers’ in 2020 and got the Aspirers tag in 2022.
This was informed by Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Jitin Prasada in Rajya Sabha today.
The Government of Odisha has received ‘top achiever’ award in two categories under the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2022, the two categories are online single window – sectoral licences and Land administration and Transfer of property, he said.
In recent years, the State of Odisha has undertaken significant strides to enhance the ease of doing business. A key initiative is the development of GO SWIFT, an online Single Window portal that integrates 54 services across 18 government departments, he said.
This platform enables seamless online application submission, payment processing, and application tracking, streamlining various business-related processes. Since its inception, GO SWIFT has facilitated investments projected to generate employment for over 10,00,858 individuals, Prasada pointed out.
Furthermore, he said, the implementation of 54 government to business (G2B) service touch points has significantly streamlined interactions with government agencies.
Notably, GO SWIFT has dramatically reduced the timeline for Single Window project approvals from over 200 days to less than 20 days within the past five years. In recognition of its exceptional features and user-friendly interface, GO SWIFT was awarded the National e-Governance Silver Award in 2019-20 by Government of India.
To enhance the ease of doing business for SMEs in Odisha, the MSME Department launched the eMSME Seva Portal, offering services like registration, licensing, financing, training, incentives, and support, he said while replying to a query about the steps being taken to further enhance the Ease of Doing Business for SMEs in Odisha.
The Union Minister further said that the Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises, implemented from April 1, 2012, initially targeted 20% of annual purchases from MSEs, with a 4% sub-target for SC/ST-owned MSEs.
This was subsequently amended to mandate 25% annual procurement including 4% from SC/ST owned and 3% from women-owned MSEs as per the November 9, 2018 Gazette Notification.
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has reduced the compliance burden related to the Public Procurement Policy for MSEs Order, 2012, by merging four compliances into one, thus reducing the total number from seven to four.
Additionally, the Ministry launched the MSME Sambandh Portal on December 8, 2017, which is regularly updated with public procurement information, helping Ministries and CPSEs monitor procurement activities. This portal features a dashboard summarizing procurement data and lists of required products/services, he stated.