Chhattisgarh assembly passes 'Ease of Doing Business Bill' to reduce red tapism, boost investment

Raipur, Jul 16 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh legislative assembly on Thursday passed a bill aimed at reducing bureaucratic hurdles, lowering compliance costs and creating a more business-friendly environment for investors, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises. Commerce and Industry Minister Lakhan Lal Dewangan introduced the Chhattisgarh Ease of Doing Business Bill, 2026, in the House, where it was passed with a partial amendment after a discussion. Participating in the debate, senior BJP MLA and former minister Ajay Chandrakar described the legislation as a forward-looking measure that would prepare the state for future economic challenges. He said the introduction of a comprehensive legislation reflected a proactive government that is ready to respond to changing global economic conditions. Chandrakar said investment-driven employment generation would become increasingly important as the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) was expected to reduce jobs in both governments and private companies. Referring to job cuts by global firms, he said Chhattisgarh needed to create an ecosystem that could generate employment through industrialisation, stabilise markets and ensure optimal utilisation of resources. Describing the bill as a landmark reform, Chandrakar said scholars of public administration would study it as an example of how red tapism could be eliminated through legislative measures. He also suggested that the government organise a large seminar after framing the rules to familiarise officials, legislators and industry stakeholders with the new system. The BJP MLA said the bill provides for a high-level empowered committee to be chaired by the chief minister. He suggested making a minor change in the terminology without altering the objective of the provision. Chandrakar said the designation of the Chief Secretary as the "Convener" of the committee should be replaced with either "Chief Executive Officer (CEO)" or "Secretary" of the committee. The term "Convener" sounded more political than administrative, he said. Congress MLA Daleshwar Sahu opposed the bill, and said the legislation should be introduced only after thorough deliberation and consultation. He argued that the proposed law, which initially covers 43 categories of services, lacked adequate justification and would not simplify existing procedures. Sahu said the executive council and executive committee proposed under the legislation had been assigned limited powers and were unlikely to bring any significant improvement in the current approval process. The Congress legislator termed the bill impractical and unnecessary, alleging it had been brought in haste without adequate consultation and would not benefit entrepreneurs. Replying to the debate, minister Dewangan said the objective of the legislation was to establish a comprehensive legal framework for ease of doing business reforms instead of introducing piecemeal changes across departments. He said the law would enable similar reforms across multiple departments simultaneously, benefiting entrepreneurs while reducing administrative delays and saving government time. Accepting Chandrakar's suggestion, the minister said the government would organise a major seminar across the state to create awareness about the legislation among citizens, entrepreneurs and industry representatives. Dewangan also clarified that amendments to the schedule of services would not require fresh legislation, as Section 18 of the bill empowered the committee headed by the chief minister to recommend changes. He moved an amendment replacing the word "convener" with "Chief Executive Officer". After the discussion, the assembly passed the bill with the partial amendment. The state government claims that the legislation will make Chhattisgarh the first state in the country to introduce such a law, seeks to reduce procedural hurdles and improve the investment climate through measures such as deemed approvals, self-certification, third-party verification, risk-based inspections and the elimination of duplicate licensing requirements. Under the proposed Act, businesses will be classified by their size and the nature of their activity and grouped into risk categories. Smaller, low-investment and low-risk businesses will get simpler, faster processes to obtain permissions, while large businesses will get deemed approval in a time-bound manner, so a small enterprise no longer has to go through the same lengthy process, or bear the same compliance cost, as a large industrial plant, officials said. For low-risk businesses, repeated government inspections will be replaced with self-certification, where the entrepreneur simply declares that they meet the required standards, or with certification by a qualified professional such as a licensed engineer, architect or chartered professional, making the process faster while keeping it accountable, they said. Businesses will also get relief from renewing permissions every year, yearly renewals will be replaced by simpler, risk-based compliance, so entrepreneurs can focus on running their business instead of repeatedly filing the same paperwork, they said. In all, the bill provides for bringing 43 services rendered by eight departments under a simplified and risk-based approval framework, they said. Over 15 lakh MSMEs across Chhattisgarh are expected to benefit from the reform, they said. PTI TKP NP