Survey suggests improving bureaucratic processes
Sixty-six percent of businesses based in the United Kingdom believe it is getting easier to do business in India due to progressive reforms and improvements in components of the country’s business environment such as the availability of support and service providers, skilled labour, and supply chain.
“In spite of new challenges to business such as Brexit, COVID-19, and the global economic slowdown, UK companies not only remain deeply committed to India, but many are optimistic of expanding their business footprint in India,” said UKIBC Group CEO, Jayant Krishna.
Krishna comments were supported by the UK India Business Council’s (UKIBC) Doing Business in India Report 2020 released by Minister for Investment, Lord Gerry Grimstone.
This year’s report is based on an in-depth survey of 106 UK organisations operating in India spanning manufacturing, services, and higher education sectors, said a UKIBC release on 30 Oct 2020.
The 2020 survey-report is “not only very positive but hugely encouraging,” he added.
The survey suggests that India’s self-reliant mission, or Atmanirbhar Bharat, stands for greater global integration for the Indian economy.
More than three-quarters of respondents to the survey were positive about Atmanirbhar Bharat, believing it is an opportunity to do more investments in India and expand the trading ties.
It seems that the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission is ushering in a unique potential for co-development and co-creation among UK and Indian firms, leveraging the UK’s innovation for manufacturing in India.
“The positively-balanced findings of this report are tremendously encouraging,” added UKIBC Chair Richard Heald said
There is much still to do to remove the persistent barriers to doing business in India, particularly improvement to bureaucratic procedures and the application of the tax regime, which is a persistent concern for businesses in the country, he pointed out.
“Yet, the optimism and commitment amongst UK businesses is telling of the strength of the UK-India relationship and scope for growth,” underlined Heald.
The report came at a time where the UK and India have committed to an Enhanced Trade Partnership, as agreed by UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in July 2020.
Although a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is an eventual goal, the immediate priority is to remove market access barriers and make it easier for companies to operate in and enter the Indian market.
India has surely made significant progress on ease of doing business, but regulatory uncertainty remains a significant challenge. Legal and regulatory barriers were the most frequently cited obstacle to business, as outlined by 51% of respondents.
Foreign exchange regulations, Goods and Services Tax process issues, high import tariffs, lack of alignment with international standards remain the top four regulatory irritants, said the report.
The survey suggests that improving bureaucratic processes with greater accountability, increasing regulatory certainty, simplification of the GST processes, improving the quality of infrastructure and making single-window clearance effective were the most sought-after reforms by UK businesses, in that order.
The report, the UKIBC’s sixth of an annual series dating back to 2015, was launched at a roundtable with Indian industry captains during Grimstone’s virtual visit to India. #investment #export #manufacturing #projects #economy /fiinews.com
