Arunachal govt launches deregulation drive to boost investment
Itanagar, June 16 (IANS) The Arunachal Pradesh government has undertaken one of the most extensive deregulation exercises in its history, introducing reforms aimed at reducing compliance burdens, attracting investments and improving the ease of doing business in the northeastern State, officials said on Tuesday.
The State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, discussed strategies to boost investment and ease of doing business. A senior official of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said reforms have been carried out across 51 areas under two phases of the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) framework of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Government of India. Of these, 16 priority reform areas have already been fully implemented and accepted by the Central government.
The reform programme covers land administration, urban development, labour regulation, environmental clearances, building approvals, education infrastructure and utility services, to create a transparent, efficient and investor-friendly regulatory environment.
A key component is the Arunachal Pradesh MSME Facilitation Ordinance, 2026, which provides a legislative framework for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The ordinance introduces self-certification provisions, a three-year inspection moratorium and conditional approvals for eligible enterprises, significantly reducing compliance requirements.
Major reforms have also been carried out in industrial land management. Building regulations governing industrial plots have been amended by rationalising Floor Area Ratio (FAR), ground coverage norms, parking requirements, building height restrictions and minimum plot size requirements to improve land utilisation.
In the environmental sector, the government has introduced third-party certification for Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate approvals. Auto-renewal and self-declaration mechanisms have been operationalised, while validity periods for approvals have been extended and linked to the operational life of industrial units in the Green and White categories. Officials said 32 additional industries were added to the White Category list in February 2026, exempting them from the requirement for prior consent under pollution control regulations.
To streamline construction-related approvals, the government has launched a fully digital Online Building Permission System, providing end-to-end services for building plan approvals, occupancy certificates and completion certificates, while integrating multiple departmental No Objection Certificates (NOCs) into a single workflow.
In education, the State government has removed minimum land ownership requirements for establishing private schools and universities. Officials said no additional infrastructure or compliance requirements beyond those mandated under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and relevant central regulatory bodies have been imposed.
All 17 industrial estates and parks in the State have been integrated with the GIS-based India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) portal, enabling investors to access estate-wise land availability information online.
The trade licence issuance and renewal processes have been fully digitised, with minimal documentation requirements. Online systems for electricity and water connections have been made operational, while industries have been exempted from obtaining separate permissions for groundwater extraction.
Officials said the reforms reflect the State government’s commitment to fostering investment, entrepreneurship and economic growth while safeguarding Arunachal Pradesh’s ecological balance, cultural diversity and tribal heritage. They expressed confidence that the measures would improve investor confidence, enhance industrial competitiveness and create new opportunities for sustainable economic development.
–IANS
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