Strategic affairs analyst Sushant Sareen took to social media on Friday to comment on the complexities of doing business in India, despite the country’s multiple free trade agreements (FTAs). In his post, Sareen highlighted that India needs reforms that fuel competition.
He added that some tariffs levied by India are “crazy high” and that the multiplicity of rates in the GST system of taxation is difficult for many people to figure out. He also said that India continues to have rates that make it challenging for a budding entrepreneur to do business in the country.
He was replying to a user who said that, despite some FTAs, India has turned protectionist due to domestic policies and non-tariff barriers that hurt small businesses and manufacturers.
In July this year, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Rajiv Memani said that India’s semiconductor push could emerge as a competitive field if it is backed by faster approvals.
Memani called for urgent reforms to address ground-level challenges that impede investment, especially around the large number of approvals required for setting up new projects.
“The Indian Semiconductor Mission is of strategic importance and it should contribute well… The government has set a clear PLI scheme. The allocation of funds for the PLI scheme is substantial. They have four serious players who are already setting up under this mission. I am sure more will do… Once the ecosystem develops, it becomes a strong competitive strength for a country,” Memani said.
He highlighted that while India has significant progress in ease of doing business rankings, several bottlenecks at the state level remain to be tackled. He backed the government’s efforts to address the issues but emphasised that time-consuming land allocation and 12-month-long environmental clearance processes continue to hold back capacity expansion.
