BENGALURU: In a bid to cut red tape and streamline the clearance process for investors, Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh will study and streamline interdepartmental processes to ensure official mandatory permissions are given without undue delays, and submit a detailed report, Industries Minister MB Patil said here on Friday. The report will be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting before formal orders are issued.
He spoke to reporters after the High-Level Project Clearance Committee meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Vidhana Soudha on Friday. “We are determined to make Karnataka the top investment destination in the country with ease of doing business. All industrial approvals will have fixed timelines, and violations of these deadlines will invite action,” Patil said.
The CM reviewed the approval timelines followed in neighbouring states — Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh — for various project-related clearances such as land-use conversion, power supply, tree felling or transplantation permissions, water connections, fire safety certification, industry registration, boiler and lift licences, and more. While some states complete such processes in 7 to 66 days, in Karnataka the same tasks can take anywhere between 20 and 120 days, he added.
“The CM has issued strict orders to eliminate these unnecessary delays,” Patil said. Investors have repeatedly complained about prolonged clearances, especially from the KSPCB and Fire and Emergency Services. To tackle this, the government has integrated 115 services from 20 departments into a new single-window portal developed by Microsoft.
However, 29 key services -- including the departments of Stamps and Registration, Labour, Fire Services, Revenue, Drug Control, Bangalore Development Authority, Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board, Pollution Control Board and Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority -- are yet to be onboarded. “We are expediting their inclusion under the single-window system,” Patil said.
A live demonstration of the new portal was presented during the meeting. Highlighting the stiff competition from Gujarat, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, Patil remarked, “For investors, time is money. If we delay approvals, the state loses opportunities. We’ve resolved to end this unnecessary bottleneck once and for all,” he said.
