Slow and unsteady losing the race?: CM warns officials against lethargy in granting business approvals

Bengaluru: Industries Minister MB Patil recently said that efforts are being made to make Karnataka the number one state in the country in terms of Ease of Doing Business.

Addressing the media after a meeting on an Integrated Single Window System and Ease of Doing Business (EODB), he said steps will be taken to resolve issues faced by investors in a time-bound manner.

“The Chief Secretary has been instructed to issue necessary directions to various departments and submit a report. The matter will be discussed in the forthcoming Cabinet meeting, following which suitable orders will be issued, he said.

As per a Cabinet, a fixed timeline will be set for granting each industrial approval. The Chief Minister has cautioned that strict action will be taken against officials failing to comply with these deadlines, Patil said.  

During the meeting, the Chief Minister discussed the timeframes followed by neighbouring states such as Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh for granting various industrial clearances.

These include land conversion, power supply, tree-felling or transplantation permissions, water supply, fire safety clearance, industrial registration and licensing, boiler registration, and lift operation licences.

In those states, such services are provided within a minimum of seven days and a maximum of 66 days.

In contrast, in Karnataka, some of these approvals currently take between 20 and 120 days.

The Chief Minister has issued strict instructions to address this delay, the Minister explained.

“Investors have pointed out that major delays are occurring particularly in the Pollution Control Board and the Fire Services Department. To overcome this, the advanced Single Window Portal developed by Microsoft and launched during the Investors’ Meet has already integrated 115 services from 20 departments. However, 29 services from departments such as Stamps and Registration, Pollution Control Board, Labour, Fire Services, BDA, Revenue, Drug Control, KIADB, and BMRDA are yet to be brought under the portal. Efforts are underway to integrate these remaining services at the earliest,” Patil added.

A demonstration of the Single Window System was also presented at the meeting.

Karnataka faces stiff competition in the industrial sector from states such as Gujarat, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh.

“For investors, time is money. Any delay in approvals could prove costly for the State. Hence, a firm decision is sought to be taken to keep Karnataka ahead of the competition,” Patil said.