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I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

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Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#11

Post by uj8efdkjfdshf »

rohan_shah wrote: post #2

Author of the article here. Do ask me if you have any questions.

Some questions:

- How much would you expect to spend if you were to pay all the bribes? Are you unable to afford them, or is this more of a moral issue?

- Is there any reason why you are effectively purchasing agricultural land and rezoning it to industrial land, rather than buying existing industrial land? What is your plan if you cannot obtain all the necessary NOCs?

- Is there any utility/road/rail access to your land? If not, have you looked into how much it will cost to build the necessary infrastructure?

- Is the area at risk for natural disasters (especially flooding)?

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#12

Post by addicted »

rohan_shah wrote: post #2

Author of the article here. Do ask me if you have any questions.

Thanks for the write up. It’s an interesting look into the difference between official federal government rhetoric and the reality on the ground.

I’m curious if India has special zones created the way China did for Shenzhen, for example, and if so the process of applying there would be any easier/more efficient?

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#13

Post by coldcode »

Much of the world operates like this, to soak you for as much money as possible before you give up and pay, even if they provide nothing actually useful or meaningful. It only looks reasonable from their perspective which is to maximize their income. Tax collectors in Rome 2 millennia ago were expected to gain their income by extorting more tax than people owned; as long as the state got what they expected, anything else was yours, which provided a great incentive for tax collectors to soak everyone for as much as possible, and ensured the state got what it wanted.

It's an interesting study in economics, unless you are the takee.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#14

Post by rohan_shah »

kkaranth wrote: post #6

Yikes. It sucks that you had to go through this. I find it appalling that so many bureaucratic jobs exist only to sustain their own existence: providing little value to those who pay their salary via taxes. Do you think this process would've been (significantly?) simpler if it wasn't agricultural land involved?

All land is Agricultural Land by default unless it comes under Municipal borders of a city or owned by MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation).

So yes, the whole point of this NA document is to convert the agricultural land into non-agricultural land on paper.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#16

Post by yding »

rohan_shah wrote: post #5
gaff33 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you think the process would have gone if you agreed to pay bribes?

If I paid the amounts they wanted ~ 10,00,000 (10 lakh or 1 million) Rupees each, it would be done in 7-8 months.

And I assume the agent's cut is on top of that?

Thanks for laying all of this out. Hopefully some politicians will take notice.

It sounds like it's basically impossible to run a business without paying bribes. I imagine even if you got through the NA certificate process, they would come around later for "inspections."

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#17

Post by rohan_shah »

uj8efdkjfdshf wrote: post #11
rohan_shah wrote: post #2

Author of the article here. Do ask me if you have any questions.

Some questions: - How much would you expect to spend if you were to pay all the bribes? Are you unable to afford them, or is this more of a moral issue? - Is there any reason why you are effectively purchasing agricultural land and rezoning it to industrial land, rather than buying existing industrial land? What is your plan if you cannot obtain all the necessary NOCs? - Is there any utility/road/rail access to your…

Not paying bribe because of moral issues as well as the fact that I could buy 10 MacBook Pro's with that much money.

There are agents who provide the "NA service". They quoted me 10,00,000 (10 Lakh or 1 Million Rupees) excluding all the legal payments to government.

All land is Agricultural Land by default. Industrial land banks (created by MIDC are few and far and our land is near a MIDC industrial land bank which is out of stock, meaning completely bought out)

Yes there is road access.

No. the land is almost barren land. Far away from flooding. So no problem with natural disasters.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#18

Post by actuator »

I remember recently reading a lot of articles on India trying to attract manufacturing plants in the country. Do they have to face the same issues as outlined by OP or are they handled differently?

Also, are they looking at streamlining some of these processes?

I don't have a problem with few of the questions that OP complained about. For example, the health certificate looks like something, they might ask to check for health safety in the workplace and also probably to see natural resources outside are not being polluted.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#19

Post by pratik661 »

rohan_shah wrote: post #2

Author of the article here. Do ask me if you have any questions.

The World Bank (which calculates the annual EoDB rankings has acknowledged that in India, "on the ground" experiences of entrepreneurs differ from what their index shows. As a result they are incorporating survey data/inputs from entrepreneurs who try to do business in India. I think it might be worth trying to contact them.

The Indian gov't is typically reactive. However, EoBB is a huge priority for the current administration. The Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) [renamed to Department of Promotion for Industry and Internal Trade] is overseeing the EODB project.

Your mileage may be limited now because the party in power in Maharashtra is no longer the same as the party in power at the Centre... There is limited pressure they can apply.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India

#20

Post by Cthulhu_ »

rohan_shah wrote: post #14
kkaranth wrote: post #6

Yikes. It sucks that you had to go through this. I find it appalling that so many bureaucratic jobs exist only to sustain their own existence: providing little value to those who pay their salary via taxes. Do you think this process would've been (significantly?) simpler if it wasn't agricultural land involved?

All land is Agricultural Land by default unless it comes under Municipal borders of a city or owned by MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation). So yes, the whole point of this NA document is to convert the agricultural land into non-agricultural land on paper.

I can understand why it's a complicated problem then. As far as I know over here (and I don't know shit), the local government (on a county level) sets zones according to a "destination plan"; residential, commercial or agricultural.

You'd apply for a plot of land in a commercial district for a project like this. Else, you'd need to get in touch with the county so that they vote on changing the destination plan.

I'm fairly sure the county itself will handle a lot of the infrastructure hurdles mentioned in this post, e.g. power lines, irrigation, etc.

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