Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to see India among the top 50 nations globally for ease of doing construction business in the next edition of World Bank report.
To fulfil this, the Ministry of Urban Development has asked all stakeholders to ensure that Delhi and Mumbai adhere to total integration and quick online approvals, a senior official in the Ministry told BusinessLine .
Rajiv Gauba, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, and Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, on Monday reviewed progress in this regard.
India had ranked 130 in overall ease of doing business in World Bank rankings benchmarked to June 2015, while for ‘dealing with construction permits’ it had ranked 183 out of 189 countries. The report covers two cities — Delhi and Mumbai — while calculating the ranking for India.
According to World Bank data, it takes 231 days to complete as many as 28 procedures for construction approvals in Delhi. In Mumbai, it takes 147 days to complete 40 procedures.
M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, has held several rounds of meetings with Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister; Ashok Gajapati Raju, Civil Aviation Minister; Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forests & Climate Change; and Mahesh Sharma, Minister of Tourism & Culture.
Municipal corporations in Delhi (of North, South, East) have introduced a four-page Common Application Form to enable single window clearances for ease of doing construction business. As many as 10 agencies including Delhi Urban Arts Commission, Heritage Conservation Committee, Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Jal Board, have already been integrated with the form.
“The three MCDs have reported substantial progress in respect of ensuring single window clearances for construction projects in the stipulated 30 days,” a statement from the Ministry said.
The Delhi Government would be requested to direct distribution companies (discoms) to ensure necessary approvals within 15 days of receiving applications, it added. Mumbai is also expected to ensure total integration by the end of April.
Moreover, last month the Ministry of Urban Development had released a set of model building byelaws which provide a structural framework to help create an online single window building plan approval process. The time limit for approvals proposed in the model regulations is 30 days maximum, or else it will be deemed to be approved.