Karnataka marked a significant milestone today with a high-level meeting on Compliance Reduction and Deregulation, chaired by the Chief Secretary of the Government of Karnataka. The session witnessed the esteemed participation of Shri Manoj Joshi, IAS, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Government of India, emphasizing the state’s commitment to fostering a business-friendly environment.
Key discussions centered around streamlining regulatory processes through Government Process Reengineering, to strengthen trust-based governance through transformational measures. While these measures would ensure “Ease of Doing Business”, deliberations were to take more proactive steps towards simplifying regulatory regime for particularly benefiting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The discussions extensively involved rationalizing procedures and processes across areas such as change of Land Use, Building Plan approval, Construction Permits, Labour Reforms, Utilities & Permissions, and decriminalization of minor procedural offences, wherever feasible.
Considering underutilization and current restrictions in zoning norms w.r.t Set Backs, Parking Spaces, Floor Area Ratio in urban, rural industrial areas resulting loss of land especially in industrial plots, flexible zoning framework has been deliberated. Encouraging commercial and affordable housing projects along TOD corridors, rationalizing procedures related to change of Land use and minimum road width (rural areas), GIS based Master Plans by UDAs and land bank availability in Industrial and Private Parks were discussed in detail.
Though has done significant steps towards simplifying labour laws, further possibilities to rationalize conditions to employ women at night in factories and to work in all occupations. Karnataka is also evaluating ways to reduce “Inspection Raj” and reduce compliance burden on departments by introducing Perpetual Licensing, Real-time approvals, Self Certification/Third Party Certifications in G2B and G2C service delivery mechanisms to bring out efficiency.
Senior officials including Smt. Uma Mahadevan, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Development Commissioner; Shri Rajender Kumar Kataria, Principal Secretary, Revenue Department; Dr. Selvakumar S, Principal Secretary, Commerce & Industries, Smt. Deepa Cholan, Secretary, Urban Development Department; and Smt. Gunjan Krishna, Commissioner for Industrial Development, actively contributed to the dialogue. A dedicated interaction session with Industry Associations ensured valuable industry feedback was integrated into the proposed reforms.
Industry Associations were also proactively participated in the dialogue and put forward suggestions on improvement areas.
Further strengthening its proactive approach, Karnataka has constituted a State-level Task Force tasked with ensuring swift implementation of these recommendations. The government’s initiative aims to create a transparent and efficient regulatory framework, positioning Karnataka as a leading hub for economic growth and development.
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