Chandigarh, Sep 23 Haryana has accelerated its deregulation and compliance-reduction drive, pushing a series of reforms to eliminate red tape, duplicate approvals, and speed up services for citizens, entrepreneurs, and investors, the state Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi said.
Rastogi shared the state’s progress after participating in a review meeting chaired by Union Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan on the implementation of Phase I and II of the compliance reduction and deregulation exercise, an official statement said here on Wednesday.
The top official participated in the meeting on Tuesday through virtual mode.
Haryana’s reform agenda spans priority areas, covering land regulations, construction, utilities, industrial development, power, environment, tourism, education, healthcare and broader ease-of-doing-business measures.
Haryana has already implemented eight priority areas, and 14 are under implementation, likely to be rolled out next month, the official statement quoted Rastogi as saying.
Healthcare has emerged as a key pillar of the deregulation push, with Haryana moving to simplify registration and NOC requirements for medical practitioners and create a single nodal mechanism for healthcare-specific licences, he said.
The single-nodal-agency reform is under implementation, with healthcare establishment services proposed to be integrated with the Invest Haryana portal to replace multiple regulatory touchpoints with a more streamlined approval mechanism, he added.
Director General, Industries & Commerce, Yash Garg informed that among other significant measures, Haryana’s proposal to remove dual licences for businesses has been approved by the Deregulation Cell.
The exercise seeks to eliminate overlapping licences, approvals, NOCs and permits issued by different departments and reduce avoidable compliance for businesses.
The state has also moved to liberalise regulations governing shops and commercial establishments. Registration under the Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments framework is already a one-time registration, while further measures aimed at simplifying compliance and facilitating businesses are being pursued.
The reform drive also has a strong MSME focus. Haryana has agreed to facilitate MSMEs through self-declaration, pre-establishment approvals and protection from inspection, with the measure currently under implementation.
The state is simultaneously working to strengthen the role of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation and the Haryana Enterprise Promotion Centre in facilitating approvals within industrial clusters.
Industrial land rules are also being liberalised, the statement said.
HSIIDC’s Board of Directors has allowed subdivision or fragmentation of industrial plots, including vacant plots, into up to three plots, provided none of the resulting plots is smaller than 450 square metres, subject to planning parameters, feasibility and applicable charges, it said.
Haryana has also taken steps to promote the “walk-to-work” concept in industrial areas. HSIIDC has constructed industrial labour housing over 4.6 acres in Sector 8, Industrial Model Township Manesar, while another such facility is being developed over six acres at Industrial Estate Kundli.
Haryana is also implementing an affidavit-based clearance system under the Right to Business framework, aimed at speeding up clearances for eligible enterprises and reducing their dependence on multiple pre-establishment approvals. The measure forms part of the state’s broader shift towards trust-based regulation.
Rastogi said Haryana would continue to pursue the pending measures in a time-bound manner, with the larger objective of reducing compliance burden, improving service delivery and creating a more facilitative environment for businesses and citizens.
(PTI News)
