This is much harder than it needs to be. But I also don't think agricultural land should be rezoned willy-nilly. Much of India's population (~60%) rely on agriculture. It should be with great thought that private parties should be able to convert the land (not just because it reduces land able to grow food and agriproducts), but also because it can be a way to dispossess the poor. For an example, see the plight of those whose land was taken to found a new capital city in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The landowners were more or less given a good price for their land. However, those who rely on the land - farm laborers and their dependents - haven't seen an improvement in their situation. They've essentially been turned into migrant workers; they were able to work on local land before. This is essentially what the English gentry did during the enclosures. The resulting "reserve army of labor" helped seed the English Industrial Revolution.
I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
111–120 of 190 posts
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#112Sounds just like Ukraine.
It's surprising (or didnt mentioned) that every official doesnt point you to a "professional consultant with lots of experience that will help you navigate through process for a fee".
Although changing land purpose definitely should be involved process: I may have missed it, but it isn't mentioned what kind of manufacturing is going to be there. It might require lot of water, it might be very environmentally unfriendly
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#113I think what the OP went through is pretty much re-zoning of an agricultural land to commercial/industrial land which probably will run into similar roadblocks in Western world too? Of course, not saying it will take this long but have heard about similar bureaucracy. Small town governments in USA at least are very strict with their zoning codes and based on things what I have heard, changing the zone sometimes requi…
Exactly, this is a re-zoning process not “opening a manufacturing plant”. I can almost guarantee this land was purchased for significantly less because it is agricultural land as well. States have plenty of reasonable concerns about re-zoning agricultural land into commercial land. The most obvious being that if there are spills or other environmental issues it could destroy much of the agricultural land around it. N…
If you bothered to read the blog. You would know he was okay with getting certificates from forestry department but he got stuck because of BRIBES.
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#114Author of the article here. Do ask me if you have any questions.
Hi Rohan,
I'm a podcast producer for BillionTwenty Media an upstart podcasting company working on a story about the ease of doing business in India. I would love to interview you about your experience. I'm following you on Twitter as well, but your DMs are closed. Can you please email me at adi@billiontwenty.com?
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#115Sounds just like Ukraine. It's surprising (or didnt mentioned) that every official doesnt point you to a "professional consultant with lots of experience that will help you navigate through process for a fee". Although changing land purpose definitely should be involved process: I may have missed it, but it isn't mentioned what kind of manufacturing is going to be there. It might require lot of water, it might be ver…
They don't point to any agent because that person will take a cut into what I could directly pay the beautocrat themselves.
But there are a few visiting cards stuck with glue on the table. Visiting cards of such agents.
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
It must become simple for a bribery captured in evidence to be prosecuted. This is anarchy otherwise.
Most of the time, they don’t ask for money explicitly at all but they will put procedural roadblocks so one pick up the cue and bribe them. Like Priority Shipping for a bad analogy. Pay to fasten and smoothen your experience kind of thing. Of course it’s illegal.
One trick it to leave a desk drawer half empty and then they go for a tea break. If they come back and they don't see money in their desk drawer, then it's hard for you to complain when they mark something in your forms as incomplete and ask you to redo it or whatever. And the next time you come to the office, you might be accidentally left to wait for a couple of hours and how you do make a decent complaint about that?
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
It must become simple for a bribery captured in evidence to be prosecuted. This is anarchy otherwise.
Most of the time, they don’t ask for money explicitly at all but they will put procedural roadblocks so one pick up the cue and bribe them. Like Priority Shipping for a bad analogy. Pay to fasten and smoothen your experience kind of thing. Of course it’s illegal.
Same for me registering a car. The dealer sent me 12 documents and the inspector wanted a few more. The dealer wasn't clear what they were. So I had to waste a few hours for two days. The agent was able to cut the queue and I spent as much time as to expose the engine number under the bonnet. The agent is the funnel for bribe from me to the department.
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#118Try building a factory on farmland in, say UK. This doesn't seem to have anything to do with 'starting a manufacturing unit', but everything to do with completely legitimate government land-use planning / zoning rules, etc, albeit a seemingly inefficient process. The author should have performed due diligence on that process before embarking.
You're missing the point. He's not saying he's against any of the documentation. It shouldn't be this hard, re-zoning or not.
re-zoning should be somewhat complex in most cases, as there are many factors to consider.
You can't just construct a steel mill next to a conservation beauty spot, simply because you 'bought' the land. Ideally.
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#119I think what the OP went through is pretty much re-zoning of an agricultural land to commercial/industrial land which probably will run into similar roadblocks in Western world too? Of course, not saying it will take this long but have heard about similar bureaucracy. Small town governments in USA at least are very strict with their zoning codes and based on things what I have heard, changing the zone sometimes requi…
I think the problem here is the sheer amount of agencies that need to be dealt with. In other parts of the world, it's not easy but at least you typically just need approval from a single entity (the town council)... The hard part is just waiting; it can take a decade to get approval in some cases.
Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India
#120There is zero benefit of setting manufacturing unit in India. Afaik, most of the manufacturing that happens here is assembly. Unless your product is one of those mass market, multi million dollar revenue makers you'll be eaten alive by adminstrative costs.
I'm a complete outsider, but from my perspective Indian manufacturing seems poised to doubly benefit from increased export at China's expense, and 'patriotic' local sales (even required by legislation in some cases).
> 'patriotic' local sales
Biggest winners from recent Amazon and Flipkart sales were OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi etc.