Punjab cabinet approves list of NOCs for MSMEs to boost ease of business
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
To boost ‘Ease of Doing Business’ for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday approved a list of NOCs required for setting up of industry in the state.
With this move, Punjab has become the first state in the country to take systematic proactive steps for improving Ease of Doing Business in matters of NOCs to enable MSMEs to flourish and prosper in the State.
The Chief Minister had, in his Independence Day speech yesterday, announced the state government’s decision to promote MSME business in the state, and the list approved today is in line with the same. It is based on recommendations of the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) – an organization engaged by Punjab Government to make Punjab a progressive industrial hub.
Notably, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Department of Industries & Commerce, Punjab and Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) in November 2020, with a tenure of two years i.e. from 02.11.2020 to 02.11.2022, to initiate new industry reforms.
According to a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office, the approved exhaustive list of NOCs will be a definitive source for entrepreneurs to access all NOC related information for establishing and operationalizing business. In future, any addition in the approved list of NOCs shall be made by the concerned Administrative Department after approval from the Council of Ministers.
One of the areas identified by GAME is streamlining NOCs required by an investor from various departments during the pre-operationalization and post-operationalization stages. However, a full and final list of such NOCs and NOC related information, such as the purpose of NOC, checklist of accompanying documents, and NOC forms, are currently not easily available. At present, most of the NOCs are also issued manually.
Punjab cabinet approves list of NOCs for MSMEs to boost ease of business. Paucity of such information and lack of clear procedure for obtaining NOCs was causing major problems for entrepreneurs wanting to set up business in Punjab, the cabinet noted. It was thus felt necessary to put a detailed list of NOCs in place in order reduce the compliance burden on enterprises and to fulfill the mandates of the Punjab Right to Business Act, 2020, and the Punjab Anti-Red Tape Act, 2021.
August 16,2021
