Commerce & industry ministry to set up regulatory committee under DIPP

Moneycontrol News

The commerce and industry ministry has decided to set up a regulatory committee under the chairmanship of the DIPP that will review regulatory impediments to industrial growth, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Tuesday.

According to a CNBC TV18 report, the announcement was made in a meeting convened by Prabhu with industry bodies like FICCI, PHDCCI, CII, and senior government officials.

"We have decided to set up a regulatory review committee under the chairmanship of DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) secretary so that very quickly we can look into some of the issues which needed for growth," Prabhu told reporters after the meeting.

There will also be a mechanism that will be set up to monitor investments, both foreign and domestic, so as to fast-track implementation of these investments.

This mechanism will be run through the Invest India institution, which is an institution jointly administered by DIPP and FICCI India.

The DIPP has asked the industry to provide details related to capacity utilization, which is currently around 74 percent on average, and has also asked for suggestions on how it can be increased.

Former FICCI President R V Kanoria, who attended the meeting, said that the major takeaway of this meeting was the confidence building which the minister was trying to do and that has "really enthused the industry".

FICCI Secretary General Sanjaya Baru said that their main submission was that the confidence of Indian businesses should be boosted as growth has slowed down over a long period of time.

"Last 6-7 years, there has been a secular decline and therefore there are concerns about the nature of the growth process. So we said once the confidence builds up then automatically investments will increase," Baru said.

The meeting was attended by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, and Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, among others.