Every investor makes two bets: one about the cost of a business today, and one about the predictability of its cost tomorrow. The Jammu and Kashmir Ease of Doing Business bill, 2026 speaks well to the first, and poorly to the second. Its core principles are perfectly sound economics: an activity is allowed unless prohibited, one office should not require what another has, and unresponsiveness from a department should be taken as consent. All are transaction-cost-reducing forces. A reform is measured against what happens at the counter but not the preamble, and the distance between the two is large here.

A reform with no budgetThe bill’s financial note itself notes that it requires no expenditure, but it establishes a state council, an executive committee, a district committee and a single window. It also places fire-safety, effluent treatment and worker facilities within estates under industrial authorities. Administrative capacity is the scarce input in this economy. Adding responsibilities without staff, software or training does not shrink the queue rather it only shifts. A credible reform requires a funded district tier, a working portal and money for the estates.

Officials regulating officialsThe state council is headed by the Chief Minister and staffed by ministers and secretaries. The executive committee is eighteen senior officers. The district body consists of the Deputy Commissioner, the Superintendent of Police and a string of department heads. Business has a........

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