GST, ill-policies of state govt to be blamed: Bizmen

JALANDHAR: As state’s overall ranking in the ease of doing business (EODB) has dropped from number one position in 2015 rankings and number two in 2016, to number 20 in 2017, city businessmen and traders blamed goods and services tax (GST), state’s ill-policies and government’s inability to offer its services online and employees’ inefficiency with technology as the main reasons behind the fall.

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, July 12

As state’s overall ranking in the ease of doing business (EODB) has dropped from number one position in 2015 rankings and number two in 2016, to number 20 in 2017, city businessmen and traders blamed goods and services tax (GST), state’s ill-policies and government’s inability to offer its services online and employees’ inefficiency with technology as the main reasons behind the fall.

Meanwhile, the top ranked states, as per the list released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), part of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with the World Bank are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Haryana while Jharkhand and Gujarat stood fourth and fifth, respectively.

Kamna Raj Aggarwal, a businesswoman, said: “New industrial policy has not been out yet. Hence, businessmen have no clarity about availing reimbursements. Even industrial policies have a lot of issues and confusions regarding benefits. And the implementation of the GST in the past year had affected the businesses as people in the state are still not well-versed in the GST”.

“The government has failed to attract investments in the state, though we have the procedure to file application online but nobody knows what has to be done next. Therefore, a good industrial policy, with clarity and proper guidelines, has to be implemented if government wants to see the growth in the sector, or else next year, the chances are the rank would drop a little more,” she added.

Another industrialist Ajay Sharma, said: “Entrepreneurship has ended in the state as no one is willing to invest in businesses here. The government makes promises but when it comes to implementation, hardly 20 per cent of what has been promised comes on paper.”

There is no fixed terms and conditions, no proper policies, no good governance that’s why today Punjab has been ranked 20th. Also, its a shame moment for the state as our neighbouring Haryana has been ranked 3rd, while it was believed that infrastructure in Punjab is far better than that state, he added.

He said: “The climate as well willingness of people in doing business in the state has died. The industrial sector is in a worse state and if good steps are not taken, the remaining industries in the state would also shift to other places.”