Reforms in land acquisition, taxation needed: Report

Industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Monday said reforms in land acquisition, taxation and contract enforcement could lead to better business environment in India.

"Indian industry hopes that the new government would accord due importance to this extremely important and urgent agenda that would help churn the wheels of investment and growth," said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII.

In its latest report titled "Ease of Doing Business in India" in partnership with consultancy firm KPMG, which was released here, the CII said key issues hindering business environment in India include lack of an effective land acquisition process, unfavourable taxation regime, high cost of starting a business, complicated and time consuming contract enforcement process.

In the latest rankings of World Bank's Doing Business report, India is placed at 134 among 185 countries; lower than all its BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) counterparts.

According to the report, India falters on various sub-indices such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, paying taxes, trading across border, enforcing contracts or resolving insolvency.

The report based on a survey conducted amongst Indian industry to assess the prevailing business environment recommended streamlined process for land use conversion, automatic approval for power, water and sewerage, labour reforms and access to funds for micro small and medium enterprises (MSME).