In a move to facilitate cross-border trade in the country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday urged officials of the customs administration to cut red tape, a move aimed at improving India’s position in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking. Besides, he also unveiled two technology platforms – ICETRAK and ICETAB – designed by Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) as part of effort towards improving ease of doing business in India.
“Improving India’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index is reasonably possible if various machineries, including the tax department, make concerted efforts to improve the three laggard parameters,” Jaitley said, while addressing officials at the investiture ceremony and International Customs Day-2018 here.
Jaitley also said that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is working on the improvement in the three laggard parameters. “With these, to come down substantially below 100 is reasonably possible and in one trade facilitation of them customs department has a role,” he added.
As a part of India’s effort to promote business worldwide, a large part of the minute requirements to be satisfied to raise India’s ranking falls in the domain of customs and that these requirements are not difficult to be met. Referring the WTO talks, Jaitley also pointed out that it has not made much headway in most areas except trade facilitation, which helps cut costs and make it more efficient. “Therefore, even without international agreement to that effect, it is even within larger benefits and interest of our domestic economy to ensure that trade facilitation takes place,” he said. Citing success achieved by India in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking, Jaitley said the country has moved ahead from 142 to 100th position in the last three years and the last 30 being in one year. “The Prime Minister has given us goal that we must try and come within first 50. So, at a time when you were at 142, to come within first 50 is somewhat challenging,’ he said.
He also added that out of the 10 criteria which the World Bank follows there are actually three that need to be improved — one relating to municipal permission of land and buildings, the other is trading across borders and third one is contract enforcement. However, Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia urged all of us together have to work harder to ensure for making it within 100 as early as possible, if not within a year, within two years.