Lucknow, August 27 (TNA) Uttar Pradesh has stepped up work on Deregulation 2.0 following a high-level Central Government review at Invest UP, with officials identifying priority reforms to cut compliance burdens, simplify regulations and speed up approvals for businesses and citizens.
The meeting, chaired by K.K. Pathak, Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, and Rahul Sharma, Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, brought together senior officials from the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh Government. They reviewed progress on FSSAI licensing for food businesses, labour law reforms, GST processes, fire licensing and safety norms aligned with the National Building Code Standards 2026, building approvals under the UPBBL, MSME support, and UPPCL power connection processes.
The review builds on Uttar Pradesh's performance in the first phase of Compliance Reduction and Deregulation, in which the state ranked first among all states for reforms aimed at removing approval bottlenecks and simplifying regulatory procedures.
Pathak said regulations must fulfil their intended purpose without creating unnecessary hurdles. On fire safety, he stressed that the primary objective should be to protect lives rather than treat compliance as a process limited to obtaining a No Objection Certificate.
He also suggested examining simpler town-planning and housing norms, including greater flexibility in FAR, and reviewing regulations to facilitate the establishment of new schools. Relaxation and simplification of certain revenue-related procedures were also discussed.
Among those present were Invest UP CEO Vijay Kiran Anand; Kinjal Singh, Secretary, Secondary Education Department; Divya Mittal, Secretary, Revenue Department; Prerna Sharma, Additional CEO, Invest UP; and senior officials from other concerned departments.