Odisha's GO SWIFT investor portal sees 3,615 industrial users

Odisha's single window investor portal GO SWIFT has seen 3,615 industrial units coming into its fold within a month of launch. The portal, the only of its kind in the country, was unveiled on November 16.

Industrial units who log into GO SWIFT can apply, make payments, track the status of their applications and obtain approvals for 32 government to business services from 15 government departments. Enthused by the response from industries, the state government aims to bring more services under the ambit of this portal.

“For GO SWIFT, we are looking at a three digit number in terms of services. We will check with the industries and take their feedback on additional services that can be brought under the portal. We are in a position to ramp up quickly since the basic structure is in place”, said Sanjeev Chopra, principal secretary (industries) with the Odisha government.

GO SWIFT portal is expected to help Odisha to catapult in Ease of Doing Business rankings.

“By introducing this portal, we have gone beyond the mandate of the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP). The investor needs to access just one portal through the entire investment cycle. This is unique in the country as all other states have different portals for a single window, inspections and other approvals. Odisha has been given the Leader rank and we would like to maintain the leadership position”, Chopra said.

Under GO SWIFT, new industrial units an obtain all necessary information regarding investible projects, applicable incentives and clearances required through an interactive tool called Info-Wizard. Besides this, units can select suitable industrial land on a Geographic Information System (GIS) based platform GO PLUS (Government of Odisha- Portal for Land Use and Services). GO SWIFT also facilitates online approval from the Single Window Authority and the land allotment from Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco).

Through GO SWIFT, the state industries department has also put in place a system where no government official can raise queries after seven working days of getting an application from the investor.

Chopra, quoting a report by industry body Assocham said while Odisha ranks among the top three states in terms of attracting live manufacturing investments, it leads other states in terms of implementation of projects.

Speaking on the outcome of roadshows held in Mumbai and Bengaluru last year and also the Make in Odisha conclave, he said, “ Out of 124 companies who announced investment intents, 74 have given firm proposals. All their projects worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore are under various stages of implementation.”