'Entrepreneurs forced to pay bribes at every stage': Sushant Sareen slams ease of doing business claim

Security analyst Sushant Sareen has lashed out at the bureaucratic inefficiencies hindering small entrepreneurs in India, describing the system as one where bribes are required at every stage of the clearance process.

In a post on Sunday, Sareen highlighted a conversation with a young entrepreneur who faced a two-month delay in securing registrations. According to Sareen, the bureaucratic system makes bizarre demands for documentation, ensuring that unless bribes are paid to middlemen, clearances won’t be granted.

"Was talking to a young entrepreneur today. Took her two months to get registrations done. Had to pay bribes at every stage to get clearances. Bureaucracy makes bizarre demands on documentation if you go through the normal process. The entire effort is to ensure that unless bribes are paid to middlemen, clearances won’t come. At every stage, small entrepreneurs are put through the mill and made to jump through hoops," Sareen wrote on X.

He expressed frustration at the claims made by ministers about improved ease of business, suggesting that such statements are either misleading or entirely out of touch with the realities faced by entrepreneurs. "And yet when ministers claim ease of business has improved, they are either totally clueless, or have been wilfully misled by bureaucrats, or just don’t give a damn and are only interested in mouthing false claims," Sareen added.

Sareen’s remarks came after former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Virmani argued: "To deal with USA tariff discrimination against our exports, vis a vis our competitors, is must accelerate our 35 year old effort to increase competitiveness, by clearing the jungle of controls, criminalization, regulations created under Bureaucratic Socialism (1950 to 1980/90)."

Virmani also referred to economist Ajit Ranade's suggestion that India could use the latest trade tensions with the U.S. as a catalyst for much-needed reforms. This call for reform comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump's decision to double the tariff on Indian goods to 50% in response to New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil.

The new tariffs, set to take effect after August 27, are expected to hit industries like textiles, marine, and leather exports hard. India has condemned the move, calling it "unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable."

Wendy Cutler, a former Deputy US Trade Representative and senior Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), expressed concern that the additional tariff would severely impact India's exports.