For business in Uttar Pradesh, online applications mandatory

The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday announced that May 1 onwards, all applications for setting up industrial enterprises in the state would have to be submitted online.

No application moved manually would be accepted, an official said. The step, he added, is aimed at reducing human interference in the process of issuance of clearances to industries.

The official said a government order has been already issued to this effect, telling entrepreneurs desirous of setting up industrial unit under small, micro and major categories to file their applications for obtaining approvals, clearances, no-objection certificates online from May 1.

Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner Alok Ranjan said: "All government departments under the ambit of Nivesh Mitra will have to accept applications submitted online exclusively."

He added that the move would make the process more transparent as human subjectivity and discretion would be mitigated to a great extent.

Under the proposed monitoring mechanism, district magistrates will be provided access to Nivesh Mitra website to monitor the clearance progress at the district level whereas Udyog Bandhu will monitor it at the state level.

Allaying possibility of some entrepreneurs not being able to file applications online due to any reason, officials said help desks at district industry centres would be strengthened.

Officer incharge of Nivesh Mitra at Udyog Bandhu also said that in 2013-14 till now, a total 1,784 applications were received through Nivesh Mitra. Of these, 1,334 applications were cleared, 39 have been rejected while the remaining are under review.