Budget '18: 372 specific business reforms being implemented through states

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the Union Budget 2018-19 in Parliament on Thursday stated that to carry business reforms for 'Ease of Doing Business' deeper and in every state of the country, the government has identified 372 specific business reform actions.

"All states have taken up these reforms and simplifications in a mission mode constructively competing with each other. Evaluation of performance under this programme will now be based on user feedback," Arun Jaitley said.

Jaitley also emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always given importance to good governance with the vision of "Minimum Government and Maximum Governance".

This vision has inspired government agencies to carry out hundreds of reforms in policies, rules and procedures.

The transformation is reflected in improvement of India's ranking by 42 places in last three years in the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' with India breaking into top 100 for the first time, Jaitley asserted.

He also announced that the Department of Commerce will be developing a National Logistics Portal as a single window online market place to link all stakeholders.

Jaitley stated that the government is transforming method of disposal of its business by introduction of e-office and other e-governance initiatives in central ministries and departments.

A web-based Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) is being administered by Controller General of Accounts, for budgeting, accounting, expenditure and cash management of the government.

The Central Public Procurement Portal provides a single point access for all information on procurement. Around 3.5 lakh contractors and vendors are registered on this platform.

In November 2017 alone, electronic bids for over one lakh tenders valued at around two lakh forty thousand crore were invited through this portal.

Government E-Marketplace (GeM) facilitates procurement at the right price, in right quality and quantity in a transparent and efficient manner.

The platform has seventy eight thousand buyers, fifty thousand sellers, three lakh seventy five thousand products and twelve services.

Besides facilitating transaction of the value of Rs. 3000 crore in about two lakh transactions, it could achieve savings of more than 25 percent over the base price.

The government will also consider feasibility of providing disclosed fiscal information in a machine readable form, Jaitley asserted.