MAIT Outlines Reforms to Improve 'Ease of Doing Business' in India

MAIT Outlines Reforms to Improve 'Ease of Doing Business' in India

Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT), the apex body representing IT manufacturers, has outlined a set of reforms needed to improve the business environment for IT manufacturing and to push India's overall position in the world market in terms of the 'Ease of Doing Business' index. According to the World Bank's Doing Business 2016 data released recently, India currently stands at #130, which is way below China at #90.

Mr Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT says, "At present there are multiple regulatory and operational issues plaguing the Indian manufacturing sector, and the IT hardware industry in particular. If the government is serious about campaigns like 'Make in India' these issues will have to be resolved quickly. The business environment in India has to be improved and brought at par with other countries."

As part of MAIT's Pre-budget Recommendations, the following key reforms have been suggested by the association to ease the business environment for the IT manufacturing sector:

Reduce time taken for customs clearances: This could be done by extending the green channel facility for free movement of goods pertaining to R&D shipments; encouraging hand carriage of goods with provision for monthly customs duty payment facility; relaxation of mandatory first check processes at the ports pertaining to free of charge / exempted shipments; and avoiding Special Valuation Branch (SVB) inspections for goods that are already cleared under duty exemption schemes.

Avoid MoEF clearance for import of refurbished goods for testing or R&D: To avoid undue delays in movement of goods, it may be clarified that second hand/refurbished goods imported into India for genuine business purposes do not require clearance from the MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forest).

"While the 'Digital India' mission can give a big boost to domestic consumption of IT goods, to achieve the ambitious target of Net Zero Imports the government would need to take concrete steps to ensure proper utilization of domestic manufacturing capacities. The existing capabilities of IT manufacturers have so far remained underutilized due to adverse tax policies and a poor eco-system." asserts Mr Shirpurwala.

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