Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP)

The Business Reforms Action Plan, or BRAP, is a yearly exercise in which the central government gives every State and Union Territory a list of reforms that make it easier to start and run a business. It then checks how well each State has carried out these reforms and grades them. It is run by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In simple words, BRAP is a report card for States on ease of doing business.

Why does it exist?

Most of the permissions a business needs in India come from State governments, not the Centre. Land, building plans, electricity and water connections, factory licences, pollution clearances, labour registrations and shop licences are mostly State subjects or handled by State bodies. So even if the Centre makes national rules simple, a business can still get stuck in slow State offices.

BRAP pushes every State to simplify these processes. By publishing results openly, it creates competition among States to attract investment. This idea is called competitive federalism.

Where did it come from?

• 2014: The government launched "Make in India" and wanted to improve India's position in the World Bank's Doing Business ranking. In that ranking (Doing Business 2015, released in October 2014), India stood 142nd out of 189 economies.
• 2014-15: The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP, renamed DPIIT in January 2019) began the BRAP exercise with the States. The first assessment covered reforms done between 1 January and 30 June 2015. Gujarat came first with about 71%, and Andhra Pradesh second. The World Bank helped with this first assessment.
• 2015-16: The plan grew to a 340-point action plan. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana jointly came first with about 98.8%.
• 2019 edition (released in 2020): Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana were the top three.
• 2020 edition (released in June 2022): DPIIT stopped giving numbered ranks. Instead, it put States into categories, such as Top Achievers, Achievers, Aspirers and Emerging Business Ecosystems.
• 2022 edition (released in September 2024): Kerala reached the Top Achiever category for the first time.
• 2024 edition (results given at Udyog Samagam in November 2025): covered 434 reform points in 25 reform areas across 34 States and UTs. States like Punjab and Uttarakhand were Top Achievers in five reform areas each.

How does BRAP work?

Think of it like a school exam where the syllabus is given in advance:

1. DPIIT releases the action plan. It is a list of specific reform points, for example "allow online application for a building permit", "fix a time limit for giving a trade licence" or "publish inspection checklists online".
2. States carry out the reforms during the assessment year.
3. States upload evidence (government orders, website links, screenshots of online systems) on the BRAP portal.
4. Users are asked for feedback. DPIIT surveys real businesses and citizens who used the reformed services, to check if the reform works on the ground. For BRAP 2024, more than 5.8 lakh businesses were contacted and about 1.34 lakh interviews completed.
5. Scores are calculated and States are graded. In BRAP 2024, 30% weight went to evidence and 70% to user feedback. (In BRAP 2022, the categories were decided fully through feedback.)

The categories (by score)

• Top Achievers: above 90%
• Achievers: 80% to 90%
• Fast Movers: 70% to 80%
• Aspirers: below 70%

What do the reform areas cover?

The 25 reform areas include, among others:

• Business entry: registering a new business or shop.
• Construction permits: approval of building plans and completion certificates.
• Land administration: land records, land use change and registration.
• Labour regulation: registrations and returns under labour laws.
• Environment registration: consent to set up and run a unit.
• Utility permits: electricity and water connections.
• Services sector and sector-specific services.
• Citizen-centric services: like certificates and licences that ordinary people need.

India's position and other ease of doing business steps

BRAP is one part of a wider push:

• World Bank Doing Business: India rose from 142nd (2014) to 63rd out of 190 in Doing Business 2020. The World Bank discontinued the Doing Business report in September 2021 after data irregularities were found in its 2018 and 2020 editions. Its replacement, Business Ready (B-READY), gives scores (0 to 100) on 10 topics instead of an overall rank.
• National Single Window System (NSWS): launched on 22 September 2021, one online portal for central and State approvals.
• Jan Vishwas Act, 2023: removed or changed jail terms in 183 provisions of 42 Central Acts for minor business offences. The Jan Vishwas Act, 2026 amended 784 provisions in 79 Central Acts.
• Reducing compliance burden: the Centre and States have removed or simplified thousands of compliances (routine filings and permissions).
• District-level reforms: a District Business Reforms Action Plan extends the same idea to districts.

Commonly confused concepts

• BRAP vs World Bank Doing Business: BRAP ranks Indian States, and is run by DPIIT. Doing Business ranked countries, was run by the World Bank, and was stopped in 2021.
• BRAP vs LEADS: LEADS (Logistics Ease Across Different States) grades States on logistics performance, run by the Department of Commerce. BRAP covers business regulation broadly.
• BRAP vs NSWS: BRAP is an assessment of reforms. NSWS is a tool (a portal) for getting approvals.
• BRAP vs Jan Vishwas: BRAP pushes States to simplify procedures. Jan Vishwas is a central law that removes jail terms from central Acts.
• DPIIT vs Department of Commerce: Both are under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. DPIIT handles industry, investment and ease of doing business; the Department of Commerce handles foreign trade.

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• Paper reforms vs ground reality: Critics say some States change rules on paper or put forms online, but businesses still face delays and informal demands. Giving 70% weight to user feedback is meant to fix this.
• Small firms feel less change: Many reforms help large investors more than micro and small enterprises, which often lack the knowledge or digital access to use them. This is exactly what the CAG's MSME audit is checking.
• Changing methods: The scoring method and categories have changed several times, so results are hard to compare across years.
• Centre-State coordination: Many approvals need both Central and State departments, and delays at one level can cancel reforms at the other.
• Way forward: Experts suggest independent audits of how reforms work in practice, deeper reforms at the district and city level, time-bound approvals with "deemed approval" if officials do not reply in time, and regular feedback from small businesses.

Concepts to Know

• Ease of doing business: How simple, quick and cheap it is to start, run and close a business in a place, including getting permits, electricity, land and paying taxes.
• Competitive federalism: States competing with each other on governance and reforms to attract investment and jobs, while the Centre sets common goals.
• DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade): A department under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry that handles industrial policy, foreign investment policy, startups and ease of doing business.
• Compliance: Any rule a business must follow, such as filing a return, renewing a licence or keeping a register.
• Single window: One place, often online, where a business can apply for many permissions together instead of visiting many offices.