Environment dept no more a roadblock ministry: Javadekar

Environment Ministry under the BJP rule has provided a conducive atmosphere and is encouraging entities to do "responsible business" in India by shedding its earlier image of a "roadblock" ministry under the Congress-led UPA regime, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said here today.
"We are not (only) trying to seek to improve the ease of doing business in India but also the ease of doing responsible business in India," the environment and forest minister said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of Global Business Forum organised by the IIT alumni association at Bambolim on the outskirts of the city.
Terming the environment department under the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government as a roadblock to development, Javadekar said, "India is a new destination with not only hope but guarantee of having ease of doing business. I have changed it to ease of doing responsible business."

Taking potshots, the minister said, "the environment ministry, which I am head of, was the roadblock ministry during the Congress regime, their agenda was to stop development.
"We have turned it upside down. We have ensured that things flow smoothly with predictable policy regime and are taking policy-based decisions and practically giving permissions on an automatic route without discretion."

Javadekar said delays in granting permission are being "deleted" and that his ministry can now guarantee timely delivery of license and permissions.
He said the ministry would stress on compliance rather than seeking to create hurdles before a business is up and running.

"We will be emphasising more on compliance. In India there are many rules, laws and regulations but rarely they are implemented and therefore enforcement or compliance will be our main thrust," he said.
On 'Make in India', an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Javadekar said the drive also envisages to shift facilities that Indians have set up in other countries back to their home country.
"Those diaspora and others should invest here in new ideas. It is come, innovate, invest, make in India and sell with pride as made in India," Javadekar said.
He also appealed to domestic industries to invest in research and development "as innovations only will take us to a new level, that is what the challenge is".

The function was also attended by Union minister of state for Finance, Jayant Sinha and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.