India, June 24 -- Anyone looking to set up a hotel, swimming pool, amusement park, or discotheque in Delhi will no longer have to make the rounds of Delhi Police headquarters to obtain a business licence. In a major regulatory overhaul, the city government has scrapped the decades-old requirement of securing a police no-objection certificate (NOC) for seven categories of commercial trades.

Announcing the reform at a press conference on Monday, chief minister Rekha Gupta described the move as "historic" and said it would streamline approvals for thousands of businesses, while allowing the police to focus on core duties like crime prevention, women's safety, and public order.

"This reform will benefit around 25,000 establishments and over...