'Make in India' campaign: panel set up for quick redressal of investor queries

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has announced the setting up of an eight-member committee of experts for quick redressal of grievances and queries of global and domestic investors as the government gears up for the mega launch of 'Make in India' campaign on 25 September.

The team, which has members from private sector, is attached to 'Invest India', a joint venture between DIPP and industry body Ficci.

"The team would try to resolve issues within 48 hours. And in case they are unable to resolve within the time frame, it would go to the nodal officer of the respective department who would try to fix that within 72 hours and in extreme cases, the query would go to the Secretary," a senior official said.

The 'Make in India' campaign, to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, is part of the government's measures to push manufacturing sector growth to over 10 per cent.

The BJP government aims to pushy manufacturing sector investments through sustained measures of deregulation and delicensing of industry and making India more accessible to investors.

''We want to get rid of the impression that India is an unfriendly country to deal with. We will aim to make the going as easy for investors as possible,'' a DIPP official said.

While the government is taking steps to attract investments in the manufacturing sector, the official said there is an urgent need to boost manufacturing sector on a sustainable basis in order to create jobs and boost economic growth.

"The sector requires lot of initiatives and lot of push by different departments and ministries and state governments. Mindset needs to be changed for things like approval and clearances of applications through online process," the official added.

Currently, to start business in India, an entrepreneur has to follow 12 procedures which take 27 days. Similarly, enforcing contracts takes years.

"Our target should be that India should radically come up in improving ease of doing business. The DIPP has already taking several steps including delicensing sectors such as defence and railways and having a timeline for clearance of applications," the official said.

The DIPP is also planning a mega digital campaign in order to sell India as an attractive investment destination.

As per the latest World Bank's report on 'ease of doing business', India had slipped three notches to 134th spot in a list of 189 economies.