The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and United Kingdom (UK) to support Ease of Doing Business in India. The MoU was signed earlier this month.

The MoU shall enable exchange of officials from both the Governments to facilitate sharing of best practises, offering technical assistance and enhanced implementation of reforms. The collaboration shall also cover State Governments in its ambit. The UK government has shown interest to offer expertise in the following areas:

a)  Support to small businesses and start ups

b)  Starting business and registration

c)  Paying taxes and tax administration

d)  Insolvency

e)  Construction permits

f)   Getting electricity

g)  Risk based framework for inspection and regulatory regimes

h)  Trading across the borders

i)   Competition economics

j]   Getting credit

k)  Drafting of laws and regulations

I)   Reducing stock and flow of regulation

m) Impact assessment of regulations

Currently, India is ranked 130th out of 190 economies (as per Doing Business Report, 2017). The UK Government has achieved phenomenal improvement in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) rankings in recent years. The beneficiaries include the officials from Central Government Ministries / Departments and State Governments through sharing of best practises, capacity building etc. Each side shall bear the cost of travel and logistics for its officials as well as for co-hosting trainings/ seminar/conferences.

The MoU shall facilitate various agencies of the UK government to offer professional courses on better regulation drafting for officials, capacity-building of frontline inspectors, sharing of best practises, etc. The collaboration is expected to expedite adoption of innovative practises by the Government of India, State Governments and their agencies leading to easing of regulatory environment in the country and fostering of conducive business climate in India.

Ease of Doing Business cooperation: bilateral technical assistance and official exchanges to support regulatory reform and capacity building. A bilateral MoU creates a framework for India-UK cooperation to enhance Ease of Doing Business through reciprocal exchange of officials, technical assistance, and capacity building for central and state governments. UK agencies will provide professional courses and expertise on topics such as business registration, tax administration, insolvency, permits, electricity, risk based inspections, cross border trade, competition economics, access to credit, legislative drafting, regulatory reduction, and impact assessment. Each side bears travel and logistics costs for its officials and for co hosted events.