DPIIT Launches District Business Reform Action Plan to Strengthen Ease of Doing Business at the District Level

Since 2015, the Government of India has been implementing the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) to promote transparency, simplify regulatory procedures, and enhance service delivery across all the States and UTs. Recognizing that businesses often interact with district-level institutions, the need to extend EoDB reforms to the grassroots level was emphasized during the National Conference of Chief Secretaries held in December 2024.

In response, DPIIT has launched the District Business Reform Action Plan (DBRAP)—a State-led initiative aimed at localizing BRAP at the district level. DBRAP is designed to strengthen last-mile delivery, improve service quality, and accelerate regional development by equipping districts with robust institutional and digital infrastructure. These reforms will be implemented across District Collectorates, Development Authorities, and Urban Local Bodies, which play a critical role in regulatory approvals, inspections, and business facilitation

In this regard, DPIIT has issued a comprehensive D-BRAP 2025 Implementation Guidebook, which lays down a structured district-level framework to improve Ease of Doing Business and enhance administrative responsiveness. The Guidebook covers six key reform areas:

1. District-level approvals and service delivery
2. Digitisation and mutation of property records
3. Time-bound and risk-based inspection systems
4. District-level investment facilitation mechanisms
5. Measures for fostering start-ups in Tier-II and Tier-III cities and
6. Strengthening of industrial parks and local infrastructure.

A total of 154 reforms have been identified, each with a clearly defined objective and assessment checklist to ensure uniform implementation and monitoring across districts. The reforms are drafted in a manner that improves predictability for businesses and builds competitive district-level ecosystems that support MSMEs, start-ups, and new investments.

Under the District Business Reforms Action Plan (D-BRAP) 2025, each reform is accompanied by a detailed assessment checklist for evaluating district performance. The parameters have been organised into the following thematic categories:

Service Delivery and Single Window Systems

• Online provision of approvals, licenses, and services across the business lifecycle through the Single Window System or departmental portals.

 

• · Availability of online credit facilitation tools for MSMEs and enterprises.

Land and Property Governance

• Digitisation of property and land records, including cadastral maps.
• Availability of land/property-related court case information on digital platforms.

Inspection and Compliance Systems

• Time-bound, transparent inspection processes supported by online dashboards with district-level inspection data.

Investor Facilitation

DBRAP aims to empower investors with clear, district-level information on industrial potential by strengthening District Industry Centres (DICs) as the primary facilitation points. The State must ensure DICs are accessible, well-equipped, and IT-enabled; deploy trained staff; provide regular capacity-building on policies and the Single Window System; maintain updated information resources; map key economic areas; support large investment proposals; and set up systems for expert access, feedback, and monitoring

Districts are responsible for ensuring effective on-ground performance of DICs by tracking investor footfall, resolution timelines, and service quality. They must update investment data regularly, engage with local industry and academia, submit performance and Training Needs Assessment reports, maintain training trackers, document best practices, collect user feedback, and identify local experts for the State’s panels.

MSME and Start-up Support

MoUs between District Industries Centres (DICs) and CSIR Innovation Complexes. Number of MSMEs utilising CSIR facilities or services through district-level linkages. As part of the evaluation, States and UTs assess their districts against these parameters through evidence-based assessment, including document checks, system screenshots, and nominate a specified number of districts for further review.

Consultations on District BRAP were held with leading industry associations as well as the State Governments and their suggestions were incorporated into the final document.

D-BRAP 2025 includes a dedicated reform area named Fostering Start-up Growth in Tier-II and Tier-III Cities, which is aimed at strengthening of entrepreneurship development at the District level, through units such as Startup Cells within District Industries Centres (DICs). These Cells are envisaged to function as a single point of contact for new and existing startups at the district level. Their key role includes, -

• Handholding and facilitation for entrepreneurs   across  application processes, approvals, and grievance redressal.
• Supporting onboarding of startups onto the BHASKAR portal to enhance visibility and access to schemes.
• Coordinating with banks and financial institutions to improve credit access for eligible startups under central and state schemes.
• Promoting the establishment of incubation centres, co-working spaces, and plug- and-play facilities, particularly in smaller towns with limited infrastructure.
• Creating structured mentoring networks connecting startups with sector experts, experienced entrepreneurs, and academic institutions to support business development and skill enhancement.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Shri Jitin Prasada, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

District Business Reform Action Plan localises ease of doing business with digital approvals, inspections, investor facilitation and startup support. The District Business Reform Action Plan (DBRAP) localises Ease of Doing Business reforms at the district level through the D-BRAP 2025 Implementation Guidebook, covering six reform areas and 154 reforms with assessment checklists. It mandates online approvals via Single Window systems, digitisation of property records, time-bound inspection dashboards, strengthened District Industry Centres for investor facilitation, and Startup Cells in DICs to provide handholding, portal onboarding, credit coordination, incubation support and mentoring, with districts required to perform evidence-based assessments and monitoring.