Itanagar, Jun 16: In a significant push towards creating a business-friendly environment, the Arunachal Pradesh Government has undertaken one of the most comprehensive deregulation exercises in the State’s history, reducing compliance burdens across 51 reform areas spanning two phases under the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) framework of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Government of India. Of these, 16 Priority Areas have already been fully implemented and accepted by the Government of India.
The reforms cover a wide range of sectors, including land administration, urban development, labour regulation, environmental clearances, building approvals, education infrastructure and utility connections, aimed at enhancing the ease of doing business in the state.
A key reform is the introduction of the Arunachal Pradesh MSME Facilitation Ordinance, 2026, which provides a dedicated legislative framework for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The ordinance allows eligible enterprises to begin operations through self-certification, grants a three-year inspection moratorium and provides conditional approvals, significantly reducing compliance burden on MSMEs.
To improve industrial land utilisation, the government has rationalised building regulations for industrial plots by revising Floor Area Ratio (FAR), ground coverage norms, parking requirements, height restrictions and minimum plot size requirements. The move is expected to reduce land loss and improve utilization.
The State has also introduced major reforms in environmental regulation. Third-party certification system for Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate has been introduced, while auto-renewal and self-declaration mechanisms have been introduced for Green and White category industries. In February this year, 32 additional industries were added in the White Category list, exempting them from prior consent requirements.
Further, government has launched an Online Building Permission System, providing end-to-end digital processing of building plan approvals, occupancy and completion certificates. The platform integrates multiple departmental No Objection Certificates (NOCs) into a single workflow and enables third-party inspections for low and medium-risk buildings.
In the education sector, Arunachal Pradesh has removed minimum land ownership requirements for establishing private schools and universities. The government has also decided not to impose infrastructure, equipment or additional compliance conditions beyond those mandated under the RTE Act, 2009, and applicable central regulatory bodies, making Arunachal Pradesh one of the least restrictive states for private educational investment in the country.
To facilitate industrial investment, all 17 industrial estates and parks in the state have been integrated into the GIS-based India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) portal, allowing investors to access real-time information on land availability data online.
The government has also digitised trade licence issuance and renewal processes, introduced online systems for electricity and water connections, and removed the requirement of obtaining permission for groundwater extraction for industries.
According to officials, the reform programme reflects the government’s commitment to building a transparent, efficient and investor-friendly regulatory ecosystem while preserving Arunachal Pradesh’s unique ecological, cultural and tribal heritage.