By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 19, 2016 : Odisha has stepped up implementation of its reform agenda to be among the top three states in the ‘Ease of doing business Indices’ at national level. At present it holds 7th position in this regard.

Chairing over a high level official review meeting on Saturday, chief secretary Aditya Padhi directed concerned departments to expedite the implementation of remaining reform agenda.

Time schedule was set for against compliance to each of the action points. The compliance to reform agenda by the departments like Commercial Tax, Energy, Labour & Employees State Insurance, Industries, Law, Revenue & Disaster Management, State Pollution Control Board, Water Resources, Housing & Urban Development were reviewed in the meeting, an official release said.

So far, around 70% compliance was achieved in implementation of the reform agenda. Some departments like Water Resources, Pollution Control Board of Forest & Environment, Industries and Commercial Tax have achieved more than 87% of success.

Out of 340 reform points suggested for making the process of doing business more facilitative and proactive, 30 points were found ‘not applicable’ for the state. So far, around 225 action points have been complied, officials said.

Chief Secretary directed the departments to expedite the implementation of remaining actionable points and ensure 100% compliance within the scheduled time frame. Many such points have been scheduled for compliance within 31st March.

Recently one of the World Bank assessments has ranked Bhubaneswar as 3rd best city in India to do the Business. This has been also reflected in the latest mobile app of ‘Odisha New Opportunities’ launched by Industries department.

It was also decided in the meeting that State updates would be uploaded regularly in the central web portal on ease of doing business for reflecting Odisha’s competitive position at national level.