Here's a test case for ease of doing business in India: A pilot rescued from red tape by PMO

World Bank's recent Ease of Doing Business report, which showed India taking a big leap by going up 30 spots, generated a lot of debate. Many claim that the index does not reflect the ground reality which remains to be difficult. They are right—and wrong too. That's what the story of this inspired pilot proves. 

Captain Amol Yadav, a Mumbai-based innovator who has built a six-seater aircraft on his rooftop, learnt the hard way that doing business in India was hardly easy when he ran from pillar to post to get his project registered with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). For six long years, Yadav struggled with bureaucracy to just get a chance to demonstrate his prototype to the government so that he could get necessary approval and work on its commercialization. 

Yadav's aircraft is not just a cranky idea brought to life an eccentric amateur. Yadav is now on the verge of completing his 19-seater aircraft, the first to be built indigenously, which can be a big boost for India's regional aviation sector. 

In 2014, the regulator changed the rules under which amateurs can build planes. The new rules allow only planes manufactured by companies to fly. And that happened despite Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis offering Yadav a tie-up with the government and even taking up his issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I felt very encouraged by ‘ease of doing business’ and the ‘Make in India’ initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Yadav had told ET last month. “However, I have realised that while the PM may be passionate about these initiatives, for the rest of the bureaucracy, these are just slogans.” 

Yadav’s primary hurdle was DGCA, the regulator, which had stalled his endeavor. 

But finally, doing business has become easier for Yadav. Hauled by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the DGCA has decided to begin the process of registering Yadav's six-seater aircraft. 

ET has learnt that PMO has pulled up top DGCA officials and asked them to follow a procedure to clear Yadav's project expeditiously. After several meetings between the DGCA and Yadav on Monday, the regulator said it would register his six-seater aircraft and would ensure its air-worthiness without any further delay. 

Yadav's case proves that bureaucracy is a big hurdle for even innovators, let alone regular businesses. Red tape can keep even a revolutionary project down for years, stifling the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. However, the fact that first Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and then PM Modi took personal interest and pulled up tardy babudom to help Yadav shows that the Modi government is indeed serious in making doing business easier in India. 

Since DGCA moved only when PM Modi intervened himself shows that his battle to reform the bureaucracy is going to be a long one.