MUMBAI: A year after the landmark concept of ease of doing business was introduced at the World Bank's instance, the Devendra Fadnavis-led government has drastically shortened the period for property and sales tax registration, electricity connection and construction permits to start a business. A battery of top bureaucrats led by the chief secretary made a PowerPoint presentation before the World Bank team in the presence of the chief minister on steps the state has taken to end procedural wrangles and red tape in key sectors.
"Last year, our performance was not up to the mark. As a result, our ranking was very low. Now, we have brought in changes and cut registration time drastically. In addition, we have submitted physical data before the World Bank team for verification. Now, we are better placed in terms of performance," a senior bureaucrat told TOI. The bureaucrat said the state submitted data on 21 power connections in Mumbai with 100 kva to 150 kva load. The average time taken for providing the connections was nine days and only two documents were required—identify and occupancy proofs. All applications were to be submitted online.