Haryana pushes ‘right to business’, eases compliance norm

Chandigarh: Haryana is working on a new generation of governance reforms, including a proposed "right to business" framework and a centralised digital repository of laws and government notifications, to reduce compliance burdens and improve ease of doing business.The reforms were reviewed on Thursday during a high-level meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretariat special secretary K K Pathak and Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi.Rastogi said the state was moving towards a more transparent, technology-driven and citizen-centric governance model by removing unnecessary regulatory hurdles for entrepreneurs, investors and the public.Officials informed the meeting that major reforms had already been introduced in land-use permissions, industrial approvals, environmental clearances and self-certification systems. Documentation required for obtaining change of land use (CLU) permission has been reduced from 19 documents to three, while auto-CLU has been introduced in industrial zones.Industries and commerce department commissioner and secretary Amit Kumar Agrawal said nearly 70% of Haryana's geographical area no longer requires CLU permissions, providing greater flexibility to landowners and investors.The Haryana Enterprise Promotion Centre (HEPC) is also being strengthened as a single-window platform for investors seeking approvals from multiple departments.Officials said reforms relating to floor area ratio, ground coverage and setback norms have been liberalised to enable better utilisation of industrial land. Self-certification and third-party certification mechanisms are also being expanded for building approvals, pollution control and fire safety clearances.The Haryana State Pollution Control Board has reduced approval timelines for consent to establish and consent to operate from 30 working days to 21 days and introduced auto-renewal facilities for eligible industries.The meeting directed departments to expedite implementation of pending reforms under the compliance reduction and deregulation exercise aimed at improving the state's business environment and governance efficiency.