Single-window system for investors rolled out

The government on Wednesday 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 portal will become a “one-stop shop” for approvals and clearances.

The government on Wednesday launched the much-awaited 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, as of today (Wednesday), hosts approvals across 18 central departments and nine states. Another 14 central departments and five states will be added by December 2021,” Goyal said. “This is freedom from bureaucracy and from windows within windows. This 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,” Goyal said at the soft launch of the portal.

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.

A soft launch was planned for August 15, but it remained in a testing phase, with one of the biggest challenges being coordination with multiple stakeholders involved. “This was a voluntary exercise and no one was pressured. We need not wait till December and keep onboarding. This is a soft launch, a test phase. We didn’t rush into the finalisation of modules,” he said.

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-toend facilitation. “This would 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 ecommunication,” an official statement said.