Special cell at Ipicol to expedite project approvals

The state had adopted a single window clearance mechanism in pursuance of the Odisha Industries (Facilitation) Act 2004 for providing time bound clearances and approvals

The state industries department plans to open an exclusive cell at Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation Of Odisha Limited (Ipicol) for providing speedy clearances to projects.

The need of such a cell has been felt as the single window mechanism put in place earlier has not yielded desired result with industry associations and project promoters often complaining about procedural delays in getting various clearances.

Ipicol is the state level nodal agency for investment promotion and functions as the single window agency for clearance of investment proposals. "We are trying to strengthen Ipicol by setting up a special cell where officers from different departments and statutory authorities like pollution control board will be on deputation and the approvals can be given at a single office", said Sanjiv Chopra, secretary, state industries department.

Chopra was speaking at a workshop on "Impact of GST on Trade, Commerce & Industry and Revenue Generation for the State of Odisha" organized by industry chamber Utkal Chamber of Commerce & Industry(UCCI).

The state had adopted a single window clearance mechanism in pursuance of the Odisha Industries (Facilitation) Act 2004 for providing time bound clearances and approvals. Under this system, a combined application form (CAF) is submitted, which all departments/authorities are mandated to accept.

At present, the single window system consist of three tiers. There is a high level clearance authority (HLCA) chaired by the chief minister to clear large projects worth over Rs 1000 crore while the state level single window clearance authority (SLSWCA), chaired by the chief secretary, is responsible for giving approval to projects upto Rs 1000 crore.

For finalisation of the new IPR, the state industries department will be organizing a consultation meeting of all the industries associations soon for inclusion of various facilitating norms in the new policy. The new IPR is likely to be finalized by the end of this fiscal.

To reduce interface with the government departments and for timely approvals, the industries department is planning to roll out 24 G2B services online in the first phase during 2015 calendar year.