The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday approved a set of major regulatory and procedural reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business while maintaining strong food safety standards in the country.
The reforms were finalised after detailed consultations with states, Union Territories and industry stakeholders.
They are also in line with the recommendations of a high-level committee on non-financial regulatory reforms constituted by the NITI Aayog.
One of the most significant changes approved by the government is the introduction of perpetual validity for registrations and licences issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
Earlier, food business operators were required to renew their registrations and licences periodically.
Under the new system, registrations and licences will remain valid permanently, removing the need for repeated renewals.
Officials said the step will reduce compliance costs, paperwork and repeated interactions with licensing authorities for food business operators.
It will also allow regulatory agencies to focus more on monitoring, enforcement and capacity-building activities.
As part of the reforms, the government has also increased the turnover threshold for registration and licensing.
From April 1, 2026, businesses with an annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore will only need basic registration, compared to the earlier limit of Rs 12 lakh.
Businesses with a turnover of up to Rs 50 crore will fall under state licensing, while those above this limit will require central licensing.
The government said the move will simplify compliance for micro and small food businesses by reducing paperwork, fees and pre-inspection requirements.
At the same time, it will strengthen the role of state authorities in overseeing food safety regulations within their jurisdictions.
Another key reform aims to reduce duplicate registrations for street food vendors. Under the new rules, vendors who are already registered with municipal corporations or town vending committees under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 will be treated as automatically registered with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
The government said the measure will benefit more than 10 lakh street food vendors by removing the need to obtain multiple registrations from different authorities.
It is expected to reduce the compliance burden and allow vendors to focus more on their livelihoods and maintaining hygiene standards.
–IANS
