BHUBANESWAR: With large number of industrial projects facing administrative bottlenecks, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday directed departments concerned to ensure speedy project clearance for timely execution.
“If any of the industrial projects is facing problem due to policy decision, the matter should be placed before the State Cabinet for early resolution,” the Chief Minister advised senior officers.
As a large number of applications is pending at district level and industries associations have been complaining that district level single window clearance authorities (DLSWCA) are taking a long time to clear specific proposals, the Chief Minister cautioned that delay in clearance of proposals beyond reasonable grounds will be viewed seriously.
The Chief Minister said he will review the progress of industrial project implementation on the second week of every month and henceforth, accountability will be fixed on negligent officers.
The Chief Minister reviewed the progress of both MoU and non-MoU signed projects of the State at a high level meeting at the Secretariat here.
The State Government has drawn flak from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for not convening a meeting of the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) between September, 2012 and March, 2014 that resulted in 11 proposals with an investment of `59,491 crore getting delayed.
As per Industrial Policy Resolution, 2007, HLCA, headed by the Chief Minister, should meet at least once in a quarter to review implementation of the policy resolutions pertaining to industrial development in the State.
The HLCA examines proposals of investment of more than `1,000 crore in the State.
Issues such as industrial development, promotion of foreign direct investment, environment management, land policy, peripheral development, ancillary and downstream development and promotion of frontier industries did not find mention in the minutes of the meeting held, the report pointed out.
During a recent meeting with Chief Secretary GC Pati, industries associations urged the State Government to strengthen the single window mechanism for timely clearance of specific proposals.
Industries representatives told the Chief Secretary that most of the DLSWCAs are not meeting at regular intervals to dispose of the applications due to preoccupations of the Collectors. Delay in disposal of investment proposals has hit hard investors in micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.
The DLSWCA, headed by the Collector, is the final authority for granting approvals for projects to be set up in the district and forwards the applications to authorities concerned for required clearances within specified time limit.
Of the 92 MoU-signed industrial projects, 43 industries, mostly steel projects, have started production while seven projects are under implementation. While 15 projects still remained a non-starter, 27 projects are in the process of acquiring land.