Single windows and new openings

Karnataka’s recently announced single window system for industrial clearances which promises approvals within 100 days is being billed as a game-changer for ease of doing business. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft and showcased at the Invest Karnataka summit in February 2024, the portal aims to consolidate services from nearly 30 departments under one digital roof. For prospective investors, this could mean an end to running from pillar to post for permissions. While the objective is clear, even industries minister M B Patil admits the challenge is steep, acknowledging that “complete integration and sensitisation” are expected to take another six months.

However, this is not Karnataka’s first foray into a single window system. The state was among the pioneers, with the Karnataka Industries (Facilitation) Act, 2002, officially laying the legal framework for a single clearance system in the state. The Act created three committees designed to streamline approvals for industrial projects based on their size. Yet, this system came to be known more for delays than facilitation. The central flaw was the illusion of cohesion. Though a single portal existed, investors still had to chase approvals from multiple departments, register separately, submit the same information repeatedly, and often wait for months or years for any progress. An attempt in 2020-21 to reform the process through affidavit-based clearance (ABC) also collapsed. It allowed businesses to start operations based on an undertaking, with a grace period of three years to obtain formal clearances. However, with banks refusing to extend credit without actual approvals, the system failed to take off. To this day, the state has separate portals for investment promotion and facilitation, requiring industries to tediously interact with individual departments, defeating the entire process of a single window.

For the new system to succeed, it will take more than political will. The real battle lies within the government’s machinery. Bureaucratic inertia, turf wars, lack of comprehensive digitisation beyond the front end, and general resistance to reform continue to plague implementation. Officials not fully aligned with the ethos of ease of doing business tend to derail progress through deliberate delays, paper-pushing, and unnecessary complications. Unless this deeply ingrained mindset is dismantled and true accountability is enforced, no amount of technological interventions, digital dashboards, or slogans will help. The state should demolish the invisible walls that divide departments, enforce performance-based audits, and ensure investor facilitation is not just a policy but a practice. For Karnataka to become a magnet for industry, the single-window system must be a symbol of credibility, not another hurdle.