Gujarat attracts Rs 3.96 lakh crore foreign, Rs 18.46 lakh crore domestic investment

Gandhinagar: Gujarat, with a significant contribution of 8.20 percent to the nation’s GDP in the financial year 2022-23, has emerged as a key state driving India’s economic growth. In 2015, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the “Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP)” initiative was introduced to enhance ease of doing business. In line with this, the “Ease of Doing Business (EoDB)” framework was launched, along with state/UT rankings/ assessments to facilitate business operations, a statement said.

According to the statement, Gujarat’s business-friendly and citizen-centric approach has attracted approximately Rs 3.96 lakh crore in foreign investment and Rs.18.46 lakh crore in domestic investment during the period from 2015 to 2024.

Under the guidance of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and led by Industries Minister Balvantsinh Rajput, Minister of State for Industries Harsh Sanghavi, and Minister of State for MSME Jagdish Vishwakarma, Gujarat has emerged as a leading state in the “Ease of Doing Business” rankings.

With context to the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) framework, Gujarat has emerged as a leading state by developing the single-window portal, the “Investor Facilitation Portal (IFP).” Through this portal, entrepreneurs and business professionals can access essential business services on a single online platform.

The Investor Facilitation Portal provides over 200 business-centric services across 18 state departments. To date, more than 20 lakh applications have been processed through this portal.

Under the “Gujarat Right of Citizens to Public Services (RCPS) Act, 2013,” a stipulated timeline has been defined for service delivery, which is regularly monitored by the “District Level Facilitation Committee (DLFC).”

Gujarat MSME Facilitation of Establishment and Operation Act, 2019, all new Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are exempted from obtaining state approvals for three years. Beyond these three years, an additional six months is also provided for acquiring such approvals.

Gujarat has been recognized as a “Top Achiever” in the Ease of Doing Business ranking by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

On September 5, 2024, during the “Udyog Samagam 2024,” Gujarat was also awarded for being the top-performing state in the BRAP 2022 edition. Under the BRAP initiative, the Gujarat government implemented 285 reforms in 2015, 340 reforms in 2016, 372 reforms in 2017-18, and 187 reforms in 2019.

Gujarat has always been at the forefront of implementing reforms to reduce the compliance burden on businesses and citizens. Thus far, the state government has reduced a total of 2,946 compliances, including 2,652 business-centric and 294 citizen-centric compliances. Among these, 208 provisions related to minor offences affecting entrepreneurs have been decriminalized, removing the stipulations for imprisonment. Also, the state has decriminalized 9 labour laws.

The government simplified the professional tax structure by reducing it from three slabs to a single slab. Under the new professional tax regime, individuals earning less than Rs 12,000 per month are exempted from paying tax.

Gujarat has eliminated the requirement for the renewal of shop and Establishment licenses, allowing businesses to obtain a license through a one-time registration.

The state government has introduced the Industries Self-Certification Scheme, applicable to 14 labour laws and regulations. Under this scheme, industries can provide self-certificates and gain exemption from inspections for 5 years.

The Gujarat government has computerized over 8 crore hand-written land records and 2.43 crore hand-written mutation entries into the Record of Rights.

Additionally, 36 services are provided with online access through the “Integrated Online Revenue Applications (iORA)” portal. To date, more than 17 lakh applications have been processed on the iORA portal, according to a statement from the Industry Department.

The Gujarat government has computerized over 8 crore hand-written land records and 2.43 crore hand-written mutation entries into the Record of Rights.

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