As pandemic raged, Chandigarh registered 762 new firms

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26

In the face of economic slowdown, as many as 762 new companies were registered in Chandigarh during the Covid-19 pandemic.

New companies registered in Chandigarh

• 2018-19 - 498
• 2019-20 - 509
• 2020-21 - 615

In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today, Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, stated that 762 new companies were registered in Chandigarh during April 2020 to June 2021. As many as 147 new companies were registered in the UT in the first quarter of 2021-22 between April and June.

The registration of new companies had increased on an year-on-year basis in the city despite getting poor rating in ease of doing business.

At least 615 new companies were registered in the city in 2020-21, 509 in 2019-20 and 498 in 2018-19.

To start a new business, the incorporation of a company is important as it shows the intent of an entrepreneur to invest. However, it does not mean that the investment has been made on the ground, rather depends on the certain economic condition before the companies take a final call on the actual investment plans.

Due to the pandemic, more than 100 companies from the city had either closed down or migrated to other states in the past one and a half years, said an industrialist.

He said several industries had reduced their production by 20 to 40 per cent due to the pandemic. Except agriculture-based industries, others had to cut production due to inadequate order from clients, he added.

Red tape had weakened the ease-of-doing-business rankings in the city. For the second year running, the UT was at the bottom of the latest ease-of-doing-business rankings announced in 2020. In 2017-18, the city was ranked 29th, and in 2020 it was at the same position. Chandigarh was at the 31st position in the 2016 rankings.

Of the 187 reform points under the rankings, Chandigarh only implemented nine, while on the remaining 178 there was no action. As per the ranking report, the reforms were implemented in some points falling under reform heads - access to information, obtaining electricity connection and environment but even on these, the performance or quality of implementation was “not good”.

To improve the governance process, UT Adviser Dharam Pal had recently asked the departments to simplifying the rules, laws, procedures and different sets of compliances. The main objective was to decrease time and cost burden and to improve ease of living for citizens and ease of doing business.