Assam Assembly passes bills seeking to make better business environment

Guwahati: The Assam Assembly on Tuesday passed several bills intended to facilitate a business-friendly regulatory environment in the state. The passage of the bills will help the state government take measures like creating a single window task force for a smooth disposal of proposals and reducing the compliance burden on commercial establishments.

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The House passed 'The Assam Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Facilitation of Establishment and Operation) Bill, 2026' with the government saying that the sector is the backbone of employment generation, entrepreneurship and economic growth of the state.

The bill replaced the Assam Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Facilitation of Establishment and Operation) Act, 2020, which was enacted to provide time-bound processing of approvals for MSMEs, Industries, Commerce and Public Enterprises Minister Bimal Borah said.

He said that experience gained during the existing Act, the Centre's emphasis on ease of doing business and Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) framework, and digital clearance mechanism, among others, have necessitated a comprehensive revision of the law governing the MSMEs.

"Accordingly, the state government proposes to introduce The Assam Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Facilitation of Establishment and Operation) Bill, 2026, which repeals and replaces the 2020 Act," Borah said.

Besides, 'The Assam Shops and Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2026', introduced by Labour Welfare Minister Rameswar Teli in order to reduce compliance burden on commercial establishments and facilitate a business-friendly regulatory environment in the state was also passed.

"It also intends to align the provisions of the Act with emerging concepts such as digital governance, self-certification, deemed registration, and promotion of 24x7 economic activities, while ensuring adequate safeguards relating to working conditions, employee welfare, safety, overtime and weekly holidays," he said.

The Assembly also passed 'The Assam Ease of Doing Business (Amendment) Bill, 2026', seeking to create a single window task force dedicated to the coordination and disposal of proposals relating to notified industrial areas.

"Then Bill further provides for a separate module on the existing centralised web portal exclusively for proposals relating to notified industrial areas, and empowers the Single Window Task Force to engage an agency for support in discharge of its functions," Borah said in the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill.

Besides, the House passed 'The Assam Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026' for amending six laws, aiming at removing "avoidable compliance burden, enabling faster approvals and clearances, and promoting institutional expansion and investment in the state", Borah said.

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The assembly passed 'The Assam Tourism (Development & Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026' for changing several existing clauses as well as repealing the colonial era legislation, the Sarai Act, 1867, that regulates all hotels, lodges, inns, guest houses and resorts.

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