Business-Friendly Framing - SEBI’s Unified Penalty Structure Aims to Simplify Compliance for Stockbrokers

Stockbrokers have membership in multiple exchanges, and each exchange follows its own framework for taking penal actions for the violations / non-compliances identified by them. Differential penalty structure across exchanges has often resulted in inconsistencies, regulatory arbitrage for stockbrokers.

In order to enhance ease of doing business / compliance, transparency and to standardize penalty structure, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) constituted a Working Group with the mandate to review, harmonize, and streamline the penalty framework applicable across all stock exchanges. The Working Group was constituted keeping in mind a balanced stakeholders representation comprising of members from all recognized stock exchanges and stockbroker associations viz. ANMI, BBF & CPAI.

Accordingly, the Working Group proposed a penalty structure for SEBI’s consideration. SEBI, after reviewing the proposal, provided the penalty structure to be adopted by all stock exchanges. Procedural lapses may not be viewed and measured through the same regulatory lens as that of material violation / non-compliance, and accordingly financial penalties arising out of some of the erstwhile procedural violations / non-compliances have been classified as ‘financial disincentive’.

This unified framework is expected to promote ease of doing business / compliance for stockbrokers.

Most Business-Friendly Countries for Company Formation

The world is becoming smaller these days due to the advent of international relations and technological innovations. Not only do the big organizations having a value of billions of dollars can go multinational but some smaller SMEs and start-ups are also making a mark in the international arena. When your home country is not the only alternative available, international company formation is gradually becoming a rising trend. Entrepreneurs all across the world are looking for international jurisdictions that are beneficial to their businesses. Here are the best countries for your international business formation.

1. United States: 

There isn’t any better place than the United States to start the list. This is easily the largest market in the world and offers practically limitless commercial potential. This is especially applicable to technological and online businesses. Being true to its nickname "The land of freedom" offers international businesses a terrific environment for supporting growth and access to the world's leading economy. You can get a range of additional services of all kinds. But all the 50 states of America have their regulations and policies concerning international company formation.

2. Hong Kong: 

The special administrative region of Hong Kong is a perfect case for company incorporation in Hong Kong. It offers transparency and flexibility together with a target-oriented approach. The region takes a lot of effort for supporting businesses of all kinds both domestically and internationally. You get a relatively stable political and financial environment in Hong Kong. It is considered to be one of the freest economies in the world. Hong Kong is also ranked as one of the top countries in the world in terms of GDP. It is no surprise to anyone that Hong Kong is a business-friendly sector with a solid international reputation.

3. Singapore: 

Singapore is the leading financial center of Southeast Asia. It is a gateway for Western businesses and it is one of the fastest-growing regions of the world. International company formation in the country can provide many benefits to the investors. There are more than 50 comprehensive agreements in place for avoiding taxation in the country with other major markets in the world. There are comprehensive intellectual property laws in place that can be helpful to new businesses in protecting their nontangible assets. Singapore has established many regulations for fostering a perfect atmosphere for new businesses.

4. Switzerland: 

Although Switzerland might not be the easiest country to start doing your business, it brings several benefits to your business. The country is ranked number one in Europe for offering economic freedom. You are guaranteed to get an ideal environment for your international company formation. Several factors contribute to the Swiss economy such as a talented workforce, well-established infrastructure, stable political scenario, sophisticated financial markets, lower taxes, and a solid service sector. The financial and banking services of Switzerland are considered to be the most advanced ones in the world.

5. England: 

England was recently ranked as the best country in the world for doing business by Forbes. It is one of the ideal places for international business company formation. Britain was the pioneer of the industrial revolution of the world and the country has taken several big strides since then. Even today the country remains an attractive proposition for investors providing several new opportunities. But what makes the U.K an attractive international market is its business policies, taxation system, and digitalization. All this can support your business well in the initial years of its operations. Despite Brexit, the GDP growth rate of Britain is still the largest in Europe. It exceeds other European countries by a big margin. London is still one of the leading financial hubs of the world.

Conclusion

All countries in the world have their policies and they offer a range of incentives for foreign investors. Offering help to foreign businesses is a way of attracting foreign investment to these countries. Having said that, many other countries are not especially welcoming to foreign businesses. They do not provide the same support to foreign businesses initially from the start-up stage going on to the operations stage. Apart from the 5 countries listed in the article, other countries offer support for international business formation such as, Vietnam, India, and Canada. There are several alternatives available these days for taking your business overseas.

Ease of Doing Business Crucial if India wants to Scale Ambitious Peak of $5 Trillion - IACC

The Indo American Chamber of Commerce held a roundtable with Khaitan Co-hosting 30 of the top CEOs and Chairmen on the subject

The Indo American Chamber of Commerce plays a pivotal role of promoting and assisting companies with interest in doing business in both countries. Right from creating the need providing research assisting in setting up and thereafter also being their voice in conveying the pain points to both governments.

Today deliberation was one of the first in a series of listening to the pain points of companies operating in Maharashtra (which contributes 20% of India GDP) noting the suggestions for improvement and quantifying the impact of the same. Maharashtra has an ambition of becoming a trillion dollar economy by itself and will play a crucial role in India reaching its target of becoming a $5 trillion economy.

Mr. Naushad Panjwani President(West)Indo American Chamber of Commerce opened the roundtable with the following statement;The present govt has done well to introduce structural reforms be it in the segment of labour laws banking bankruptcy digitization and GST amongst others. These reforms were long overdue and the intent of introducing them was right but these could have been executed better.

Mr. Saurabh Shah VP (West)-Indo American Chamber of Commerce said It is heartening to see the Prime Minister personally meeting the industry leaders taking a cue from that we are meeting leaders of the next rung of companies and going to 10 cities (Mumbai Navi Mumbai Pune Aurangabad Nashik Nagpur Ahmedabad Surat Vadodara and Goa) to get a very wide perspective of their challenges.

A detailed white paper on the same will be presented to the state chief Ministers relevant union ministers and respective American Consulates along with engaging with them on the subject.

Ease of Doing Business in India Roundtable - Key Takeaways

Digitization is a key- Be it in compliances stamp duty court records or land records. While we are on track the process needs to be accelerated integrated and simplified.

Key to have clear rules - This is necessary to avoid any issues in interpretation or delay in implementation. Further the punishment/ penalty should be clear severe and uniform.

Facilitation - Focus should be on facilitation rather than on regulation.

Pendency of courts - This area needs a lot of work. Some thoughts include increased use of digitization artificial intelligence etc. Another suggestion is to have mediation; or conciliation; as pre-requisite before approaching any judicial authorities - this will reduce number of cases being filed.

Capacity building - More focus on capacity building by all Governmental/judicial authorities. Forums like AICC can play a big role in this area.

Easy access - Automated process to access government facilities. Say access to ESI hospitals PF withdrawals etc.

Ease of doing business - Time taken to setup and close business needs improvement. We need to provide incentives and handholding to set-up businesses and documents/ compliances required ndash; while some states are performing well in this area as a country we are far behind our developed counterparts.

Performance review - To incentivize better performance accountability a clear performance evaluation system needs to be implemented at Governmental authority level.

~ Newsvoir

Next Ranking of States for Ease of Doing Business likely to be Released in March

The Commerce and Industry Ministry is likely to release the next index to rank states and union territories (UTs) in terms of ease of doing business in March, a senior official said.

"It will be released in end of February or March. Due to elections, the release got delayed," the official said. The exercise is aimed at triggering competition among states to improve business climate in order to attract domestic and global investors.

State governments are taking several steps such as setting up single window system for approvals to improve ease of doing business.

The parameters include areas such as construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability and single window system.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in collaboration with the World Bank conducts an annual reform exercise for all states/UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP).

In the last ranking released in July 2018, Andhra Pradesh topped the chart. Telangana and Haryana were at the second and third positions, respectively.

Others in the top ten were Jharkhand (4), Gujarat (5), Chhattisgarh (6), Madhya Pradesh (7), Karnataka (8), Rajasthan (9) and West Bengal (10).

The ranking is based on a combined score consisting of reform evidence score that is based on evidence uploaded by states/UTs and feedback score that is based on response garnered from actual users of services provided to businesses.

The report to be released this year will rank states for 2018.

In the World Bank's latest 'Doing Business' report, India's position improved to 63rd from 77th out of 190 economies.

The Commerce and Industry Ministry has prepared a blueprint to further improve India's ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index with a focus on six parameters, including enforcing contracts and starting a business.

The government is targeting to take India among top 50 in the index in coming years. PTI

DPIIT focusing on 6 Parameters to Push India's Rank in World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index

The Commerce and Industry Ministry has prepared a blueprint to further improve India's ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index with a focus on six parameters, including enforcing contracts and starting a business, an official said.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the ministry, is also following reform activities in Kolkata and Bengaluru as these two cities are included by the World Bank this year besides Delhi and Mumbai for preparing the ease of doing business report, with a view to provide a holistic picture of business environment in India, the official said.

The bank has added a new parameter government contracting, taking the total number of criteria to 11.

The government will share with the World Bank reform activities undertaken for ease of ding business (EoDB) in May-June this year.

The six parameters where the department is focusing are: enforcing contracts (163rd), resolving insolvency (52nd), starting a business (136th), registering property (154th), paying taxes (115th) and trading across borders (68th).

India has jumped 14 places to rank 63rd out of 190 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report on account of significant improvement in resolving insolvency and obtaining construction permits.

The official said that under enforcing contracts, the focus will be on reducing time taken in disposal of cases and improve on quality index of judicial process and increasing awareness regarding electronic case management tool facility for judges and lawyers.

Similarly under the 'registering property' criterion, the focus would be on land titling legislation by all the four cities, land records to reflect actual ownership, and timely disposal of property disputes.

The interventions listed for 'starting a business' include integrated registration for ESIC, EPFO, GST, profession tax with company registration. The exercise assumes significance as the government is targeting to take India among top 50 in the ease of doing business ranking.

This year's ranking by the World Bank would be released in October.

The other parameters where the country has done well include trading across borders, registering property, paying taxes, getting electricity connections and starting a business. However, the improvement in the remaining three parameters -- getting credit, protecting minority investors, enforcing contracts -- are not impressive.

The current ranking is topped by New Zealand. India's ranking was behind Asian peers Singapore (2nd ranked), Hong Kong (3rd), Korea (5th), Malaysia (12th) and China (31st). The US was placed 6th on the list. PTI RR CS

UK India Business Council Releases Annual Doing Business in India Report for 2019

The UK India Business Council (UKIBC) on Wednesday released its 5th annual Doing Business in India Report. The report is based on the results of extensive discussions, including a roundtable in London with Union Commerce Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal, and a survey that captured the views of UK companies and higher education institutions on the operating environment in India and their reform priorities.


Overall, the survey respondents were positive about India, with 56% stating that it is getting easier to do business in India, and only 21% saying that it has not improved (while 23% were undecided).

Perhaps the most positive message in the report for Mr. Modi’s Government is the dramatic drop in perceptions of corruption. When the UKIBC published its first Doing Business in India report in 2014, over 50% of respondents cited corruption as a top barrier to operating in India. This figure has improved year on year, and in 2019 it dropped to 17.5%. There is clearly still work to do to eliminate all forms of corruption, but the continued reduction is a positive.

The most persistent barrier to doing business continues to be ‘legal and regulatory impediments’, which were cited by 59% of respondents as a major barrier. 'Identifying a suitable partner' and ‘taxation issues’ are the next two most cited barriers.

It is therefore no surprise that the most popular reform among UK businesses is ‘improving the quality of bureaucracy, with 28.6 percent of respondents urging the Government of India to act in this area.     

The second most popular reform request was related to the bureaucracy, with 16.9% of respondents calling for a ‘simplification of the Goods and Services Tax (GST)’.

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that calls for the simplification of GST have reduced from 24 percent in 2018, reflecting that companies are coming to grips with India’s new tax system, and India has improved its implementation since the original rollout.

 The Government of India announced the reduction of India’s corporate tax rate (from 30% to 25.17% after cess and surcharges are accounted for) prior to the completion of our survey, perhaps one reason as to why India’s previously high corporate tax rate was not mentioned by our respondents.

The highest scoring aspects of the Indian business environment continue to be tele-communication facilities, closely followed by the availability of skilled labour, the availability of support and service providers, and the availability of supply chain.

For the first time, the UKIBC canvassed views on how India’s States and Union Territories are performing on the ease of doing business. When asked “which states are making the most improvements on business environment?”, Maharashtra was the clear winner, with 36.67 percent of respondents giving it the honour, followed by Delhi, which captured 20 percent of the vote.

With Brexit on the agenda of UK companies, 26 percent said that they planned to do more business with India as a direct result of the UK leaving the EU. This will be a further boost to the flow of goods, services and investment between the two countries.

UKIBC Chief Executive, Richard Heald, OBE, said that, “The findings of this report reflect the long-term advantages of the huge and growing Indian market. There have been improvements, particularly in tackling corruption, but there is clearly much still to do  to remove the persistent barriers to doing business, particularly when it comes to improving bureaucratic procedures and the application of the tax regime, which is a persistent concern for UK and, indeed, all businesses in India.”


Heald went on to say, “The UKIBC and our members look forward to our continued dialogue with governments across India, and we remain fully committed to working together to further improve the ease of doing business.”

The UK India Business Council (UKIBC) is the premier membership-led organisation supporting the promotion of trade, business and investment between the two countries. UKIBC plays an influential role in creating and sustaining an environment in which free-trade and investment flourishes. Through its insights, networks, policy advocacy, services and facilities, the UK India Business Council supports UK businesses to achieve success.

Bengaluru, Kolkata to be included in World Bank's Doing Business Report

The World Bank will now include Kolkata and Bengaluru, besides Delhi and Mumbai, for preparing ease of doing business report to provide a holistic picture of business environment of the country, an official has said.

"The country of the size of India was not properly represented by just two cities, and now with the inclusion of Kolkata and Bengaluru, Indian ranking in the World Bank's report will present a much better picture," the official said.

The report ranks 190 nations based on ten parameters, which includes ease of starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

The official added that the exercise to include these two new cities has already been initiated and would be included in the World Bank's ranking in the years to come.

The annual World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report is expected to be released tomorrow.

According to the official, India's rank is expected to improve further in the report from the current 77th position.

India improved its ranking on the World Bank's 'ease of doing business' report for the second straight year, jumping 23 places to the 77th position on the back of reforms related to insolvency, taxation and other areas.

India was ranked 100th in the World Bank's Doing Business 2018 report.

In the 2019 report, India had improved its rank on six out of the 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country.

New Zealand topped the list of 190 countries in ease of doing business, followed by Singapore, Denmark, and Hong Kong.

The United States is placed eight and China has been ranked 46th. Neighbouring Pakistan is placed at 136.

Ranking helps in improving parameters which are essential to attract both domestic and foreign investors. PTI RR CS

Why India's Historic Boost to Ease of Doing Business Is A Complete Failure!

On 26^th January, 2018, the Narendra Modi led government took a giant step in favor of ease of doing business by restructuring the company registration process and also by waiving company registration fees. Now, after the reform, the government claims that the company can be registered in one day with zero fees.

It all looks like a fairy tale for the startups until we stop dreaming the imagination that is being sponsored by the government of India. In simple words, the historic boost for ease of doing business is a complete failure and rather now the procedure has become more tedious and complexed.

The Government’s fairy tale and the real truth

Government of India undertook various steps for ease of doing business but end up making it more complexed and costly. The government decisions with regard to starting a business in India shows that it isn’t aware of the ground realities of company incorporation. Hence, we have listed out the government claims and the reality behind those claims so that one should be aware of the real scenario.

1. One Day Company Registration in India
   The government has claimed that the company can be incorporated within a day thanks to the reforms and a new introduction of SPICE form. However, it is another fairy tale and nothing else.A company cannot be incorporated in a single day due to a number of steps involved. We will highlight all those steps and the time taken by each step. We will follow an optimistic approach even then you will see that the company cannot be registered in a single day.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   Sno.	Number of steps		At Optimistic level	On Average basis
   1.	Digital Signature & DIN application		Half day	1 to 2 days
   2.	Name application		Half day	1 day
   3.	Preparation of Documents by professional		1 day	2 to 3 days
   4.	Filing & follow after final form submission		1 day	3 to 5 days
   Total Time Taken (Without any error)			3 Days	7 to 10 days
   5.		Time wasted by ROC resubmissions	1 day to 2 days	1 to 7 several days
   Total Time Taken (With error)			5 days	-

   
   Only 2 out of 10 applications can be processed at optimistic level because re-submission on fictitious grounds, rejections further adds to the timeline. Hence, registering a company in a single day is only on papers.


2. Company registration with zero fees
   Just visit www.mca.gov.in and you will see an auto popup screen which claims that “now you can incorporate your Company with Zero fees”. The government claims that this step is taken to reduce the cost of starting a business in India.The real truth behind this claim
   The government has only waived the company final form filing fees which amount to Rs.3,000/- on a average basis. There are many additional fees which are to be incurred while registering a company in India.
   
   
   Details of other fees still in existence
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   Sno.	Particulars	Fees (in Rs.)
   1.	Name application form	Rs.1000
   2.	Stamp duty state wise	Rs.200 to Rs.10,000/-
   3.	Digital Signature Cost (per Signature per member)	Rs.600 to Rs.1200
   4.	Notarization cost (Per member)	Rs.100

   
   


3. New Reserve Unique Name (RUN) service for simplified procedure
   Earlier, the entire professional industry was frustrated with the Company name procedure due to ad-hoc rejections and corruption in the department. Further, various delegations were also sent to the government in this regard.
   Hence, the government in order to make it efficient disposes of the year’s old name application procedure and introduces a very new RUN service for company name approval.
   With this, the government claims that it has simplified the procedure to a great extent and has also reduced company incorporation time.
   
   Truth behind this claim
   This new company registration service which aims to simplify company registration procedure, has resulted into a complete mess. Here are the following reasons:
   
   
   
   • Only single name can be filed: One can apply only single company name under RUN services unlike the earlier process where 6 names can be filed. Now, this will result into more frequent rejections which will lead to further delay.
   
   
   • No re-submissions: If your applied name under RUN services is not available, then ROC will reject your application and there will be no second chance. Earlier, another chance is given for resubmission, so that the applicant can submit new names for approvals.
     Further, the government fee is also forfeited if the application is rejected by the government. Hence, it results in higher cost and delay in the procedure.
   
   
   • Adhoc rejection: Government has failed to recognize the problem of ad-hoc rejections. Many times, the ROC rejects the name application without any logic. Further, if you have direct links with the department personnel, the same name (which was rejected earlier) will be approved.
   
   
   • No Compliant system: If anyone is aggrieved by the government rejections, there is any system to the complaint. There is no other way but to accept the inspector raj in the system.
   
   
   
   

Fact recognized by various experts in the industry

All the above facts are also been recognized by the various industry experts. Vaibhav Jain, renowned Chartered Accountant and associate director of Inmacs group, said in a facebook post “RUN is a bad experience so far! Arbitrary name rejection and only one choice. No six options, no resubmission, and fee are Rs.1000/-. I am sure MCA is making more money than before with lesser companies.”

Further, he also received the chain of affirmative comments by various top chartered Accountants. The founder of Hubco.in, Agam Gupta who deals with company registration on a daily basis said “RUN is a real road blocker. Getting name approval before filing company is very important because all the respective documentation for company registration includes a company name. Hence, this is a very bad change.”

The Narendra Modi led government has definitely shown the intentions for a better governance, however, it has failed to create an impact due to lack of knowledge about the ground realities of starting a business in India. However, since more and more businesses and investors are turning their eye of the prospects of Indian markets and ecosystem, it is well expected that some right changes will be introduced by the government in the years to come.

It Takes 118 Days To Set Up Business In India, says NITI

We have heard PM Modi claim multiple times that doing business in India has become easier than ever since his government has taken control of the country. But, how easy is easy in his dictionary?

According to a survey done by Niti Aayog and Mumbai-based IDFC Institute, on an average, it takes about 118 days to set up a business from scratch in India. The survey was conducted of Indian enterprises on ease of doing business in the country.

What made people wonder the most about the findings of the Niti-IDFC survey was the deep contrast it showed to the World Bank report on ease of doing business in India. As against 118 days that the Niti-IDFC survey predicted takes to set up a business in India, the World Bank report on ease of doing business showed that it took just a mere 26 days to set up a business in India in 2016.

So, why this 92 days difference? Well, there's a good explanation for it.

While World Bank for its survey only took into account Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai, the Niti-IDFC survey was pan-India, excluding the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep.

The World Bank determines a country’s ease of doing business ranking on the basis of 10 main parameters that assess the country in areas such as ease of starting a business, getting electricity, construction permits and carrying out trade across borders. For the 2016 report, the DIPP treated the World Bank team when they visited the country with a detailed presentation of initiatives and efforts made by both the central and state governments of India during the period of last one year (Read Here).

The Niti-IDFC survey report not only offers a wider coverage when compared to its World Bank counterpart, but it also includes interviews of firms in the country rather than just taking the point of view of experts and officials. For the report, while Niti Aayog and the IDFC institute focused their attention on organised manufacturing sector in India and, covered 3,000 firms across 23 sectors, the World Bank report took into account both manufacturing and services.

Not only did the report have contrasting numbers to show when it came to setting up a business in India, it also showed a sharp variance on a couple of different parameters as well. For instance, while World Bank report showed that getting construction permits in the country can take up to 164 days, the Niti-IDFC report showed that on an average the construction permits took 156 days to come around.

Even the Niti-IDFC report showed inter-state differences when it came to ease of doing business. While the national average of doing business in the country is 118 days, Tamil Nadu, the best-performing state on the survey report, managed to do the same in 63 days. Similarly, while environmental approval took 91 days nationally, it took just 25 days in Chhattisgarh.

Explaining the huge gap between states, Niti Aayog’s outgoing Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said that the huge gap is a result of different initiatives state governments have done to improve the ease of doing business in their states and what the enterprises know of these improvements being done by them.

He further added that when the survey set out to find out how many enterprises were aware about the single-window clearance, they were shocked to see the results. Among the startups — which were set up in the last three years — only 20 per cent were aware of the existence of single-window facility. Among the experts, only 41 per cent had knowledge of the existence of such a facility.

It Takes 118 Days To Set Up Business In India, says NITI

We have heard PM Modi claim multiple times that doing business in India has become easier than ever since his government has taken control of the country. But, how easy is easy in his dictionary?

According to a survey done by Niti Aayog and Mumbai-based IDFC Institute, on an average, it takes about 118 days to set up a business from scratch in India. The survey was conducted of Indian enterprises on ease of doing business in the country.

What made people wonder the most about the findings of the Niti-IDFC survey was the deep contrast it showed to the World Bank report on ease of doing business in India. As against 118 days that the Niti-IDFC survey predicted takes to set up a business in India, the World Bank report on ease of doing business showed that it took just a mere 26 days to set up a business in India in 2016.

So, why this 92 days difference? Well, there's a good explanation for it.

While World Bank for its survey only took into account Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai, the Niti-IDFC survey was pan-India, excluding the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep.

The World Bank determines a country’s ease of doing business ranking on the basis of 10 main parameters that assess the country in areas such as ease of starting a business, getting electricity, construction permits and carrying out trade across borders. For the 2016 report, the DIPP treated the World Bank team when they visited the country with a detailed presentation of initiatives and efforts made by both the central and state governments of India during the period of last one year (Read Here).

The Niti-IDFC survey report not only offers a wider coverage when compared to its World Bank counterpart, but it also includes interviews of firms in the country rather than just taking the point of view of experts and officials. For the report, while Niti Aayog and the IDFC institute focused their attention on organised manufacturing sector in India and, covered 3,000 firms across 23 sectors, the World Bank report took into account both manufacturing and services.

Not only did the report have contrasting numbers to show when it came to setting up a business in India, it also showed a sharp variance on a couple of different parameters as well. For instance, while World Bank report showed that getting construction permits in the country can take up to 164 days, the Niti-IDFC report showed that on an average the construction permits took 156 days to come around.

Even the Niti-IDFC report showed inter-state differences when it came to ease of doing business. While the national average of doing business in the country is 118 days, Tamil Nadu, the best-performing state on the survey report, managed to do the same in 63 days. Similarly, while environmental approval took 91 days nationally, it took just 25 days in Chhattisgarh.

Explaining the huge gap between states, Niti Aayog’s outgoing Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said that the huge gap is a result of different initiatives state governments have done to improve the ease of doing business in their states and what the enterprises know of these improvements being done by them.

He further added that when the survey set out to find out how many enterprises were aware about the single-window clearance, they were shocked to see the results. Among the startups — which were set up in the last three years — only 20 per cent were aware of the existence of single-window facility. Among the experts, only 41 per cent had knowledge of the existence of such a facility.

Missed Your Startup Updates? Here is Weekly News Roundup for You to Stay Tuned

This week was filled with new launches, renaming of startups, government announcements and how can we forget Google joining 1000 club. So in short, this week was a cheerful one for the startup world. And If you have missed any such happening, not to worry. We at IndianWeb2 brings for our reader a weekly dose of startup world.

Here are 10 news from startup ecosystem which you should not have missed:

A New Incubator for AgriTech Starups

Jindal Stainless Ltd. has formed the collaboration with the Japanese company Future Venture Capital Company Ltd. (FVCCL) to launch an incubation centre for agritech startups in India. The announcement was made at the ‘Krisi Unnati’ event organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bhubaneswar.

The Agritech Incubator Will Select 5–10 Startups for the first batch.

Israel Calling Women-Led Indian Tech Startups

Embassy of Israel in India has officially launched the fifth edition of the Start TLV Competition in India, on Thursday. The competition is for women-led startups (or at least one co-founder should be a female). In order to provide maximum benefits to all its participants, the Embassy of Israel has joined hands with the Indian government's Startup India programme, TiE-NCR, YES Bank & YES Global Institute and CNBC-TV18. Last day to apply to the competition is July 7th, 2017.

Shocking! An Entrepreneur Receives Notice To Cancel His Firm’s Web Identity

A Delhi-based entrepreneur has received an email by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) seeking the cancellation of his company’s domain by the name of “Startupindia.in”. NIXI demands the cancellation of the domain as it is “misleading and is in violation with the Startup India program.” This email was sent by NIXI on a request from Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) as it is creating a problem for the government who is currently using the “startupindia.gov.in” for its Startup India initiative.

Freshdesk Renames Itself To Freshworks

One of India’s most well-funded and Software as a Service (SaaS) startups, Freshdesk has rebranded itself as Freshworks Inc. It is a new umbrella brand that will bring together the company’s growing suite of business software. Following breakout growth of the company’s customer support software, and the introduction of new products for IT Service Management (ITSM), customer relationship management (CRM) and cloud-based call centers, Freshworks products are designed to help companies better engage and communicate with their customers and employees. Precisely six years after launching Freshdesk, Freshworks has became a SaaS powerhouse with five offices in Chennai, San Bruno, London, Sydney and Berlin.

Google Lovers Here Comes The News Of Google Joining $1,000 Share Club

Alphabet, Google’s parent company has joined $1,000, a share club. And this news comes just six days after e-commerce giant Amazon accomplished the same milestone. The California-based company’s Class-A shares crossed the $1,000 per share threshold and climb as much as 1.13 percent to $1,007.4. The tech giant’s shares have surged by a quarter since the start of 2017. Alphabet’s stock success can be attributed largely to its continued dominance in the search engine market with Google search, and the ad revenue that comes along with it.

Launch Of Accelerator Programme In Bengaluru By NetApp

Us-based storage and data management company, NetApp has launched the NetApp Excellerator programme in Bengaluru. It is the company’s first startup nurturing initiative in India which is designed to help startups create world class products and innovative solutions that are market ready.

The applications, for the four-month programme are invited from startups working in the areas related to IOT, cloud, big data and analytics, machine learning, virtualization, data security, storage and data management, and other adjacent areas. Selected startups will receive technology and business mentorship along with the access to markets and investors.

Airtel Business Rolls Out Digital Platform To Serve SMEs & Startups

Bharti Airtel’s B2B ARM, Airtel Business has launched a dedicated digital platform to serve the growing connectivity, communication and collaboration requirements of emerging businesses, including SMEs and Startups. The platform will offer solutions to emerging enterprises to enable ease of business and faster time to market.

Airtel’s new digital platform will offer connectivity solutions to start with and will be integrated with more solutions periodically. Emerging businesses can now discover and buy connectivity plans in just three easy steps which will eliminates multiple layers of traditional processes to offer a fast and convenient way to identify connectivity solutions.

Good News For Indian Subcontinent. India Leaves China Behind In Ease Of Doing Business

According to the 2017 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), India has emerged at the top position among 30 developing countries in ease of doing business and what came as a surprise was, India leaving China behind.

Yes, the study, which ranks the top 30 developing countries in the world for retail investment worldwide and analyses 25 macroeconomic and retail-specific variables, explained that India’s stupendous performance on the index can be attributed to relaxation of FDI rules introduced by the central government and a consumption boom being witnessed in the South Asian country. The consumption boom is courtesy the country’s growing middle class and rapidly increasing consumer spending.

Now Entering German Market Becomes Ease For Indian Startups, Here’s How

After the news of India leaving China behind in ease of doing business, here comes the another good news for Indian startups. According to a startup exchange pact, which is likely to designed between Govt of India’s Startup India and German Startup Association, Indian startups may soon get easier access to the German market.

A formal agreement between the two countries is being worked upon and is likely to be signed soon. The agreement will be signed between Startup India and the German Startups Association, which has about 650 startups and 50 partners, including corporate entities and venture capital firms, and coordinates with the United States, China, India and Israel.

Acquisition Time. Product Discovery Platform Shoppist Gets Acquire By Roofpik

Real estate property and broker review platform, Roofpik has acquired product discovery platform, Shoppist. The acquisition will strengthen Roofpik core team and bring personalized property recommendations to its users.

The acquisition was driven by Roofpik’s interest in Shoppist’s use of NLP technology, which helps consumers discover the most relevant products based on their user persona. With this technology, Roofpik will be able to validate reviews and generate meaningful analytics from over 5,000 user reviews that are currently live on the platform.

Israel’s OurCrowd Enters Into Strategic Collaboration With India’s Reliance Private Client

Jerusalem-based equity crowdfunding platform, OurCrowd has entered into a strategic collaboration with India’s Reliance Private Client, in which the Indian wealth management firm will be offering its clients the option of investing in the Israeli company’s funds and startup portfolio.

The agreement between Israel’s OurCrowd and India’s Reliance Private Client will aim to build the former’s presence in the Indian subcontinent. Once this aim is substantially conquered, the equity crowdfunding firm hopes that it will be possible for its portfolio companies to export their products to the Indian market.

Israel To Support Women Entrepreneurs, Launches Start TLV Competition In India

The Embassy of Israel has launched the fifth edition of the Start TLV Competition in India. The competition is a platform to support women entrepreneurs in the country and helping them in accelerating the growth of their startups. In order to provide maximum benefits to all its participants, the Embassy of Israel has joined hands with the Indian government’s Startup India programme, TiE-NCR, YES Bank & YES Global Institute and CNBC-TV18. Last day to apply to the competition is July 7, 2017.

The ‘StartupIndia.in’ website which belongs to Startup India Advisory Services Pvt Ltd was incorporated in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in July 2015. The company, which provides advisory services to tech based entrepreneurs has now even put up a disclaimer on the website stating that it has no relation whatsoever with the Indian government’s Startup India initiative.

Ease of Doing Business: World Bank Officials To Meet DIPP For India's Ranking

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of India is all set to host a team from World Bank next week. The officials are visiting the Indian sub-continent as a part of their yearly ritual of ranking the countries of the world on their ease of doing business, from ranks 1 to 189.

The World Bank determines a country's ease of doing business ranking on the basis of 10 main parameters that assess the country in areas such as ease of starting a business, getting electricity, construction permits and carrying out trade across borders.

In order to make sure that the World Bank gets a clear vision of India's commitment to the ease of doing business initiative, the DIPP will be treating the World Bank team with a detailed presentation of initiatives and efforts made by both the central and state governments of the country during the period of last one year.

In addition to the meeting with the DIPP officials, the World Bank team will most probably be also having one-on-one interaction with various stakeholders in order to understand the real impact that the steps taken by the governments have had on them.

The DIPP is quite positive about India improving its ranking this year on the ease of doing business list. They believe that the initiatives taken by both the central and state governments have had fruitful results and will surely reflect in this year's ranking.

The various measures taken by the central and state governments includes eradicating the environment clearance for 36 white industries; introduction of online registration of VAT with real-time Tax Identification Number and increasing the validity of environment clearance from five to 7 years.

According to DIPP insiders, this time, the officials at DIPP are expecting a significant improvement from the 130th position that India earned in Doing Business Report 2016. But, locking a ranking with two digit figures might have to wait till next year.

The Modi government has time and again focused on the importance of improving the ease of doing business in the country. Modi's 'Make in India' initiative forms an important pillar in this ease of doing business factor.

Improving ones ranking on the ease of doing business list means the country is working towards making its land a more investor friendly terrain and is easing up its regulatory environment for both foreign and domestic firms. A higher ranking on the list helps in attracting more investments to the country.

Whether DIPP claims of a significant improvement in India's ease of doing business ranking comes true or not, is something which we will have to wait and watch.

It Takes 29 days To Start A New Business in India, Says World Bank

Yesterday the whole country went Gaga over how India has jumped 12 positions in a period of just one year in the World Bank's 'Doing Business 2016' report. Acquiring the 130th position among 189 economies, the country's this year ranking was a major improvement from its 142nd spot in the year 2014, which was later revised to 134 this year after data corrections.

Later, It dramatically turned out that India never moved 12 spots over last year.

The World Bank's website clarified that India only jumped 4 places, from 134 in 2015 to 130 in 2016. A dramatic change in methodology has meant that the ranking for 2015-a dismal 142-- was updated to reflect a new measurement philosophy. Based on data available as of June 2014 that changed the 142 rank to 130. This further implies that the substantial 8-point jump last year was updated to reflect the ease of doing business of policies implemented by the government in place till June 2014: 11 months of the UPA and 1 month of the current NDA government.

The overall rankings have been calculated on the basis of ten factors, which are-- registering property (138), getting credit (42), dealing with construction permits (183), getting electricity (70), protecting minority investors (8), paying taxes (157), enforcing contracts (178), trading across borders (133), resolving insolvency (136) and starting a business (155th rank).

While everything seems hunky dory from outside, India still has a long way to go when compared to other world powers. Even though India's ranking has improved to 155 from 164 in the year 2014 in terms of starting a business. It still takes 29 days and over 12 procedures to begin a venture in the country.

[cp_quote style="quote_normal_dark"]As per data collected for the report, 'Starting a business in India requires 12.90 procedures, takes 29 days, costs 13.50 per cent of income per capita and requires paid-in minimum capital of 0 per cent of income per capita.[/cp_quote]

Getting construction permits is still a fight for Indian entrepreneurs as the country's position in terms of getting construction permits marginally improved to 183 from 2014's ranking of 184. In terms of getting electricity, the ranking saw a jump of almost 30 positions to 70 from 99 in 2014.

REcent policies implemented by the government, the World Bank said, of forcing entrepreneurs to deposit Rs 100,000 to incorporate a new company have been done away with. That move brings India in line with the 105 countries out of 189 in the Doing Business ranking that have no minimum paid-in capital requirement.

Elaborating on the front of getting electricity, the report said, the utility in Delhi has made the whole process of getting a power connection much faster and simpler as it has eliminated the internal wiring inspection by the Electrical Inspectorate. Talking about Mumbai, it said, "The utility in Mumbai reduced the procedures and time required to connect to electricity by improving internal work processes and coordination."

Everything wasn't an upward movement for India. The country's rank tanked on two fronts - paying taxes and getting credit. India's position declined to 157 from 156 in terms of paying taxes and on the getting credit front, it declined to 42 from 36 last year.

In the light of the recent government's efforts to boost trade and business in India, how do we fare in the list next year, will be a thing to see.