India Inc has come out with a blueprint for turning India into a global manufacturing hub that suggests a comprehensive overhaul of governance delivery services, including land, to shore up the competitiveness of the Indian industry in the world markets.
For this, the leading business and industry body, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said on Sunday that the centre and state governments must adopt a comprehensive and forward-looking competitiveness agenda. Top on its Wishlist to governments is the demand for land reforms, as land is the most important key factor of production in the manufacturing sector.
Arguing that the global landscape was undergoing seminal transformations, the CII said trade and investment patterns are being reshaped by factors beyond cost. Protectionism and trade wars are a challenge, it said, but added, India’s stable policy framework, strong industrial capabilities, large domestic market and a young workforce, India sure is seen as an attractive investment destination.
But for actual investments to flow in, India should initiate various reforms, including land reforms.
“India has made remarkable progress in several areas of reform, but land remains a domain where foundational changes are overdue in terms of access, cost, and regulatory ease for businesss, and said, “a robust land reform strategy will not only boost India’s manufacturing, but also improve investor confidence, unlock rural development potential, and drive inclusive growth.
“We remain committed to working with central and state governments to realise this vision of a competitive and an industrially advanced India,” the chamber said, listing out nine specific suggestions.
For land reforms, the CII suggested setting up a GST-like Council to enable coordinated and consensus-based land reforms.
While initiatives like the India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) are commendable, several challenges persist, and there is a need for improving transparency and making the processes simple.
The CII urged the government to break the major bottleneck: the multiplicity of authorities involved in land-related processes at the state level. The World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2020 highlights the gravity of the issue. In India, registering property requires 9 procedures, 58 days, and costs 7.8 per cent of the property’s value. In contrast, New Zealand completes this in just 3.5 days at 0.1 per cent cost.
These inefficiencies delay projects, increase cost and discourage potential investors, the CII said, promising the establishment of Integrated Land Authorities in each state to act as one-stop agencies overseeing allotments, conversions, dispute resolution, and zoning.
Other subjects it listed up for reforms include, simplification of land use change processes, stamp duty rate reductions and making them uniform across the country, legal remedies to make land titling clearer, improving transparency, a governance model that addresses future needs, improving environmental sustainability, and development of cross border industrial corridors between adjacent states and developing infrastructure in such areas — with better transport, power, water, and digital connectivity. It all called for streamlining f land banks to integrate rural as well as underdeveloped areas.
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