Ease Of Doing Business: Over 75,000 Approvals Granted On National Single Window System Portal

The National Single Window System (NSWS) portal, which provides a single interface for investors to apply for various Central and State/Union Territory clearances, has reached a milestone with over 75,000 approvals being granted on the portal.

A total of 75,599 approvals have been granted out of over 1,23,000 applications received on the portal, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday (5 January).

The portal, which was soft launched on 22 September 2021 by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, has received 420,000 unique visitors from 157 countries and has been used by over 150,000 investors to determine the approvals required for their specific business cases.

The NSWS initiative, which represents a "Whole of Government" approach with various Central Ministries/Departments, States, and Union Territories coming together to facilitate investor-related clearances on a single portal, has facilitated more than 400 investors in applying for the Indian Footwear and Leather Development Policy (IFLDP) application, 25 investors in applying for Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RVSF) applications, and 19 investors in applying for Automated Testing Stations (ATS) applications.

In addition, over 2,000 investors have applied for various registrations under the Sugar and Ethanol Scheme of the Department of Food and Public Distribution.

Ministry of Commerce and Industry has approved 57,850 approvals applied through NSWS, while the Ministry of Consumers Affairs has approved over 17,150 approvals.

The NSWS portal is designed to eliminate duplication of work by automatically populating form fields across different approvals based on a single investor profile and is currently being used by investors to apply for approvals from 27 Central Ministries/Departments and 19 States/Union Territories.

In a meeting held on 5 December 2022, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal solicited suggestions from stakeholders to streamline the NSWS ecosystem. The portal will progressively work to onboard more approvals and licenses based on user and industrial feedback.

The NSWS initiative aims to enhance the ease of doing business by providing transparency and accountability in the process of obtaining regulatory approvals and services related to investments.