Should an arrested Chief Minister resign?

The position of the CM of NCT...

The need for gender neutral laws

Gender inequalities in our legal system are...

Nilima Rani inspires the best within ourselves

Dr Achyuta Samanta was blessed by a...

Maharashtra initiates online permits for starting business

BusinessMaharashtra initiates online permits for starting business

By 2 October, the Maharashtra government aims to activate an online system for granting permissions to start new businesses in the state. The move comes as a part of Maharashtra’s efforts to improve its rank on the “ease of doing business” index. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, during a recent high-level meeting, directed top bureaucrats to soon put in place such systems. “Online permissions should be issued within a week. If a few departments fail to issue permissions within one week, such permissions should be considered granted,” the CM is learnt to have told the officials.Now, Maharashtra aims at creating a single-window clearance system for permissions from various departments. The CM, in his meeting, also reviewed the work of different departments in this regard. The state aims at creating a conducive environment for industries and hospitality sectors to flourish.

“We have already brought down the number of permissions required to set up an industry to almost half. During the earlier regime, it was 76. Now, they are 37. But we are still not happy with it. We intend to bring them below 25 soon,” said Subhash Desai, Maharashtra Industries Minister.

He said that the government had issued 47 notifications in the last one year to various departments. “They have been directed through these notifications on how to reduce the time taken to grant permissions to industries. We are looking at how NOCs (No Objection Certificates) can be issued earlier,” he said.

Maharashtra was recently ranked eighth on the “ease of doing business” index by the World Bank. Gujarat had bagged the first rank, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. Maharashtra intends to write to the Centre’s Department of Industrial Promotion and Policies, seeking review of its rank on the ease of doing business index.

“The World Bank has taken note of the decisions of the state government taken till the month of June only. But from June to September, we have taken many decisions and issued many notifications, which have led to lower permissions required for starting businesses in the state. We are going to approach them, and request them to consider our efforts till September this year,” Subhash Desai said.

STRING OF MEASURES FOR ‘EASE OF DOING BUSINESS’

The state government has taken a slew of measures to promote ease of doing business in Maharashtra. Any businesses coming up in Mumbai will get the permission for building construction within 50 days. The number of permissions they will require for that has also been brought down from 27 to 11. Earlier, the average period for granting permission for construction was 162 days in Mumbai.

The number of permissions for power connections has been reduced from seven to three. They will be issued within a fortnight, instead of the average 67-day period earlier.

A special review committee has been set up under the chairpersonship of the Chief Minister to take stock of the clearances issued to industries. Also, a high-powered committee under the aegis of the Chief Secretary has been set up to ensure speedy clearances to businesses.

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has modulated its rules and brought down the number of permissions from 14 to five. Moreover, the state already has a separate business facilitation cell called MAITRI which was formulated last year. Maharashtra Industry, Trade and Investment Facilitation Cell (MAITRI) aids businesses with investment worth Rs 10 crore or more. It provides guidance and help to the businesses and assists them in getting requisite permissions.

On the pattern of MAITRI, the state government now intends to start facilitation centres for micro, small and medium industries at divisional level.

- Advertisement -

Check out our other content

Check out other tags:

Most Popular Articles