Odisha Ramps Up Deregulation Drive, Showcases Commitment to Ease of Doing Business

Bhubaneswar: In a significant step toward reducing compliance burden and improving the ease of doing business, the Chief Secretaries’ Orientation Session on the newly developed Deregulation Module within the Regulatory Compliance Portal (RCP) of DPIIT was held virtually on April 9, 2025. The session was chaired by Vandana Gurnani, IAS, Secretary (Coordination), and aimed to streamline the monitoring and evaluation of compliance reduction efforts across States and Union Territories.

Representing Odisha, Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary Anu Garg, IAS, participated in the session from the Second Floor Conference Hall of Lok Seva Bhawan, along with senior officials and Secretaries of key departments. The Industries Department, acting as the nodal agency for deregulation in the state, along with IPICOL, briefed the Development Commissioner on the progress achieved so far, aligned with the 23 Priority Areas outlined in the Deregulation Docket.

During the session, the Cabinet Secretariat presented a live demonstration of the newly designed MIS-enabled Deregulation Portal developed by NIC/NeGD. This portal will serve as both a monitoring dashboard and an interactive communication platform between State Deregulation Cells and the Government of India’s Task Force Members. Key features of the portal include a Chief Secretary-level dashboard, user management tools, departmental workflow assignments, reform submission tracking, best practice uploads, and multi-user login capabilities.

The system empowers state-level leadership to assign tasks, approve reform submissions, and provide real-time updates to the Centre. It also allows marking of reforms as ‘Not Applicable’ or ‘Already Implemented’, ensuring tailored and transparent evaluation.

Odisha has already institutionalized an internal coordination mechanism to implement deregulation reforms. A State-Level Task Force Meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary was held on February 15, 2025, followed by a strategic discussion with Cabinet Secretariat Task Force Member and Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Sandeep Poundrik on March 19, 2025. The Odisha Deregulation Docket, shared with relevant departments on March 17, has served as a blueprint for identifying actionable reforms and delegating responsibilities.

Following the portal demo, all departments were instructed to initiate implementation of previously identified reforms, while also exploring new deregulation opportunities within their priority areas. They were further directed to actively engage with the portal to ensure timely submissions in the prescribed format.

Smt. Anu Garg emphasized the need for inter-departmental collaboration and proactive execution, noting that reducing compliance burden and simplifying certifications will significantly boost entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment climate in the state. She urged departments to leverage the portal to highlight Odisha’s best practices and position the state as a front-runner in regulatory reforms.

The meeting was also attended by senior officials including Chithra Arumugam, Principal Secretary, Labour and ESI Department; Vishal Kumar Dev, Principal Secretary, Electronics & IT and Department of Energy; Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department; Uma Nanduri, PCCF (KL) & Member Secretary, SPCB Odisha; Umashankar Dash, DIG, Fire Services; and officers from IPICOL and other concerned departments.