Size of State matters in EoDB: Fadnavis

Big states face challenges, he says

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis .

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday sought to underscore the need for the Centre to take into account size of the States and the associated challenges the large ones faced while ranking them for the level of Ease of Doing Business.

“We have requested the DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) to slightly differentiate between the large and small States,” he said, pointing out that for a large State like Maharashtra it was “very difficult to put in processes at every single place.”

Mr. Fadnavis, who was speaking to press persons on the sidelines of ISB Leadership Summit (ILS-2017) here on Saturday, answered a question on how Maharashtra planned to improve EoDB rankings which now had Telangana at the top. He said the DIPP, however, was yet to respond to the the request. “Notwithstanding that, Maharashtra aims at being a leading State in the ranking. That we will achieve this year,” he declared.

Maharashtra, he added, was also confident of improving the EODB ranking given by the World Bank. Listing the initiatives undertaken in this direction, he said the State has enacted a Right to Service Act to provide time-bound approvals and penalise officials for delays. In 2016-17, the State received 50% of the foreign direct investment made in the country.

Agriculture

Earlier in his address at the Summit, the Maharashtra Chief Minister said there was a need to shift people from agriculture to other sectors given that 50% of the people in the State were dependent on agriculture.

The State, he added, had moved from a relief and rehabilitation approach in the field of agriculture to one focused on channelising more investments to make farming more sustainable. This has helped the State improve significantly from a downward spiral.

On the Navi Mumbai airport project, he said the December 2019 is the deadline for the first phase to commence operations. The pre-developmental works were expected to be completed by May and the concessionaire for the project set to be selected.