Centre, Bihar review deregulation reforms to boost investment climate

Patna: A review meeting on Deregulation 1.0 and 2.0 aimed at promoting investment, improving ease of doing business and removing outdated legal and procedural barriers across departments was jointly chaired on Friday by Union cabinet secretariat special secretary K K Pathak and chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit.During the meeting, Pathak directed all state departments to identify and reduce unnecessary compliance burdens within their respective jurisdictions. He fixed a 15-working-day deadline for completing reforms identified under “Deregulation 2.0” and ordered all pending work to be uploaded on the designated portal within the stipulated period.Detailed discussions were also held on incorporating the National Building Code for Sustainability (NBCS) 2026 into Bihar’s building bylaws to strengthen infrastructure safety and stability. Officials were directed to rationalise Floor Area Ratio rules to support modern urban planning and adopt the Total Facility Management model for efficient maintenance of govt properties.Pratyaya directed departments to mandatorily implement the single window system and self-certification mechanism to reduce human intervention and accelerate approvals.Issuing strict instructions, Pathak said departments must prepare a list of rules and registers that can be abolished, stating that unnecessary regulations act as barriers to investment.He also directed officials to expedite removal of stringent provisions, including imprisonment for minor technical lapses under commercial laws, and replace them with monetary penalties.Pathak said in cases involving multiple departments, the cabinet secretariat department would function as coordinator to avoid delays in file movement. All departmental nodal officers have been instructed to submit weekly progress reports to the cabinet secretariat every Friday, while the chief secretary’s office will directly review implementation status.Expressing satisfaction over Bihar’s progress in deregulation reforms, Pathak assured full support from the Centre to align the state with national standards.Pratyaya directed all departments to work in mission mode to ensure timely implementation of the reform agenda.Additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries, secretaries and senior officials from the finance, industries, urban development and building construction departments attended the meeting.