Freedom for the wolves, death for the sheep: The pitfalls of unbridled business deregulation

The call for deregulation is buzzing in the air again. At the Global Business Summit 2025 in mid-February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a Deregulation Commission to eliminate hundreds of compliances and further streamline regulatory processes.

He noted that the Goods and Services Tax regime introduced in 2017 has created a single large market by removing state levies, significantly benefiting industries by simplifying taxation and fostering economic integration.

Modi’s statement was a takeoff from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech, in which she highlighted the need to promote ease of doing business, update old laws and develop a flexible, people-friendly and trust-based regulatory framework.

The cry for deregulation has echoes in the new US Department of Government Efficiency under Elon Musk in the Donald Trump dispensation, whose objectives include streamlining government agencies and cutting “red tape”.

It echoes the initiative taken by the United Kingdom in October 2024 to open a new Regulatory Innovation office to speed up the introduction of new technologies like artificial intelligence.

Reforms towards boosting manufacturing, Ease of Doing business and steps for the betterment of social infrastructure are all being kept in place. We won't stop with it. The momentum of reforms shall continue.

Newer areas are also being opened up and that's...

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