India Inc, experts to suggest regulatory reforms

To improve business climate and ensure transparency in various sectors, captains of Indian industry, environmentalists and former bureaucrats are set to advise the government on the country’s regulatory framework.

Against the backdrop of various reports citing India’s unfavourable business environment, the government today announced the setting up of a 21-member committee under the chairmanship of former Securities and Exchange Bureau of India chairman M Damodaran. The committee would conduct a detailed study and prepare a report recommending measures to improve the country’s business climate, according to a statement by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

The committee includes Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, ICICI Bank and Infosys Chairman K V Kamath, ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar, Tata Sons Director Ishaant Hussain and HDFC Standard Life Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Choudhary. Deloitte India Chairman P R Ramesh,The Energy and Resources Institute Vice-Chairman R K Pachauri, former environment secretary Vijai Sharma and former rural development secretary Subas Pani have also been included in the panel.

The announcement of the panel follows a recent report by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation that had ranked India 132nd in a list of 183 countries, in terms of a ‘transparent world’ for business. According to the report, on most parameters, India lagged behind the other members of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries.