'For ease of doing business, action required on execution front'

Industry leaders bat for thrust in infrastructure development to augment manufacturing

To ensure 'ease of doing business' in India, there is a still a lot to be done on execution front, said industry officials at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Gujarat Annual Day 2015.

"To make 'Make in India' successful and ensure ease of doing business, there is a still a lot to be done on execution front from policy statement to action," said, Yatindra Sharma, past chairman, CII Gujarat state council.

The thrust on infrastructure development, Sharma added, is necessary to remove the bottlenecks for improving the manufacturing situation in the country.

Similar sentiments were echoed by co-panellists comprising Errol D' Souza, Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A); Ramakant Jha, managing director, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) and Tanmoy Chakrabarty, vice-chairman, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The panellists were participating in a post-conference discussion on 'Make in India - Make in Gujarat': Transforming Business, Enhancing Growth.

Lamenting lack of investment in research and development in all sectors, Sharma, who is also the managing director of KHS Machinery Private Limited, batted for more investment in research and development by both the industry and the government. D' Souza too asserted the need for businesses to engage more with the government so as to remove any lingering suspicions about the former's way of functioning.

Though manufacturing sector contributed 35 per cent to Gujarat State Domestic Product (GSDP), D' Souza said that value addition is high at Business-to-Business (B2B) level and low at Business-to-Consumer (B2C) level.

"If Gujarat can go forward with value additions at B2C level, it will further improve manufacturing sector's contribution to the GSDP," the academician highlighted.

Regulatory hurdles, D' Souza admitted, are still the biggest hurdles to do business in India.

"Regulators, be it in the financial sector, power sector or any other sectors, are the biggest constraint for business. Their job is to follow rules. But, regulators are not moving with the tide," he said.

Citing instances of countries like South Korea, Vietnam and some other countries, he asserted that business organisations in these countries take the government, regulators, employees' unions in confidence about the need for embracing technology to enhance business. He said that India doesn't use "negotiating capital" transparently and widely enough.  Earlier, in the business session, speakers said that Prime Minister's 'Make in India' campaign is designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure in the country.