Make in India, Start Up India: Tough task ahead for new DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek

RAMESH Abhishek on March 1 assumed charge as secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion under the ministry of commerce and industry. An IAS officer of 1982 batch (Bihar cadre), Ramesh succeeded Amitabh Kant, who was appointed as the CEO of the NITI Aayog on a two years term. Abhishek was initially appointed as Officer on Special Duty in DIPP so as to get a sense of some of the high-profile initiatives like Make in India and Start Up India that the DIPP undertook.
Abhishek, who was said to be in race for the post of chief of market regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India), was earlier working as...
secretary (performance management) in cabinet secretariat.
He assumed charge at a critical juncture as India is looking to improve its ease of doing business ranking significantly. Abhishek will have to take that forward and also engage with foreign investors for making the ongoing Make in India campaign a success.
He was the former chairman of Forward Markets Commission (FMC). Abhishek's term at FMC saw a major development relating to the National Spot Exchange Ltd. Subsequently, FMC was shifted from the ministry of consumer affairs to the finance ministry. It was later merged with Sebi from September, 2015.
Meanwhile, the new secretary has said that a number of measures have been mulled at Central and state levels to streamline laws and simplify processes for converting "red tape into red carpet" for investors.
He said that the department wants to cut down legal, regulatory and procedural complexity associated with doing business in India. He said this while speaking at an NCAER event in the capital.
He pointed out that corruption, delay in getting approvals before starting a business and hurdles in getting environmental clearance as the top three constraints.
Abhishek will have to carry forward the legacy of his predecessor Kant who had played a key role in shaping up the brands such as Make in India and StartUp India which in turn brought relatively insignificant DIPP into limelight.
Originally hailing from Odisha, Abhishek did his MA in political science and later had a degree from Harvard University. He will retire in Match, 2019.