The government on September 22 launched the national single-window system for investors and businesses. The portal will integrate the existing clearance systems of the Centre and states.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said the single-window portal will become a “one-stop-shop” for approvals and clearances. It will enable obtaining approvals as well as clearances needed by investors, entrepreneurs, and businesses in India. The portal currently hosts approvals across 18 central departments and nine states. Another 14 central departments and five states will be added by December 2021. This ensures freedom from bureaucracy and is a big step towards ease of doing business. Nobody wants to be a detriment to doing business. This will not only enable ease of doing business, but also ease of living. This is a result of the need for a single window of contact between businesses and the government.

The department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) had planned to launch the portal in April, but it got delayed due to the second wave.

The platform will do away with the need for multiple applications across various portals. An investment proposal typically requires a bunch of approvals and clearances across various states and government departments. However, all approvals will still be needed. 

The minister further said all solutions will be there at the click of a mouse through end-to-end facilitation. This will bring transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the ecosystem and all information will be available on a single dashboard. An applicant dashboard would be there to apply, track and respond to queries. Services include know your approval (KYA), common registration form, state registration form, document repository and e-communication. 

The system is spearheaded by the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade and Invest India.There is a document repository, which is an online centralized storage service for investors to enable one-time document submission and use the same across multiple approvals. This eliminates the need to submit documents at multiple portals.

The departments that have already joined include corporate affairs, environment, labour, railways, commerce and industry, revenue, power, food & consumer affairs and textiles. The states that are already on board are Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Goa.

• • The portal currently hosts approvals across 18 central departments and nine states
• • Another 14 central departments and five states will be added by December 2021
• • An applicant dashboard would be there to apply, track and respond to queries
• • Services include know your approval (KYA), common registration form, state registration form, document repository and e-communication
• • The system is spearheaded by the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade and Invest India
• • There is a document repository, which is an online centralized storage service for investors to enable one-time document submission