Silpasathi – Single Window System – Department of MSME & Textiles, Government of West Bengal

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Case Study

Silpasathi – one stop shop for investors in West Bengal – is a dedicated Single Window System for industry facilitation. It has three components, viz. (i) information wizard – guides an investor about the statutory compliances required for his enterprise; (ii) GIS system based land availability in government owned industrial estate/parks; and, (iii) Single Window Portal that provides statutory clearances from a single point for starting and operating a business in the State within a specified time frame.

Single Window System (Silpasathi) is established through enactment of the West Bengal Single Window System (Management, Control and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2017 dated 25 September 2017. Silpasathi is unique in the way that an entrepreneur, willing to set up and run an enterprise in the State need not visit any government offices for obtaining land/buildings and statutory clearances. Single Window portal enables him to apply for clearances under applicable Acts and Rules through a Dynamic Common Application Form (CAF) generated online, to pay fees for various services merged into a single transaction and obtain clearances online from the portal.

Challenges

The main challenge was to make provisions for facilitating the investors in obtaining services required for setting up industries and operate business in a smooth and time bound manner and to provide for any other matter connected therewith and incidental. It aims to abolish the physical touch points for getting various licenses and certificates and at the same time it also saves time for the investor which in turn helps speedy industrialisation.

Solution

Business process reengineering (streamlining of existing processes ) was done where redundant/repetitive portions in the workflow were eliminated. Online systems were implemented in place of physical applications.

Dynamic Common Application Form (CAF) generated online was introduced as a feature in Online Single Window System where an applicant is able to apply for more than one services at a time paying fees for all services merged into a single transaction. Once the fully filled-in proforma is submitted, a checklist of the statutory compliances required for that particular enterprise is provided. The entrepreneur can also know the timeline, procedure, Department involved, documents required and cost involved against all statutory compliances required for a particular enterprise.

The GIS earmarks land parcels with the kind of industry that can be setup on such land. The GIS provides details about available infrastructure such as road, water, drainage/ sewerage, electrical substation and poles, proximity to National/State highways, Railway lines etc for all industrial land banks of State that is available or accessible to each plot of land. The GIS also clearly highlights the type of industries that are set up and the common facilities that are available for the industries across the state. Detailed mapping of Industrial Parks/GCs/Estates is available up to the extent of plot level and with details of infrastructure associated with the land bank in the Industrial Park. In addition, a comparative chart of ‘Basic Amenities provided by each of the Industrial Park in the State is also available in the web portal.

In the CAF generated online, the common information and documents when applying for services are submitted online once and only once in the entire life cycle of the business enterprise. Fees for various services are merged into a single transaction for payment by the user. Approval certificate is provided through Single Window System. Third parties are able to verify online through Single Window System about the authenticity of the approval granted. An applicant receives an SMS/e-mail notification as and when the application is submitted and/or query is raised and/or application is approved/rejected.

Outcomes

Changes in status of applications are notified to applicant through e-Mail/SMS notifications at each stage of approval process. Time bound approval is notified against each service under West Bengal Right to Public Service Act 2013 and therefore the applicant is rest assured that he will not have to follow up with any government office. Dynamic tracker gives details on number of applications submitted, rejected or approved on a real time basis and the applicant can also track the application online. No physical printing of certificates saves costs. Online payment instead of payment through Demand Drafts saves time and is hassle free for the applicant. Applicant can download the final approval certificate and immediately start his work.

For more information, please contact:
Mr Swaroop Udayakumar, Joint Secretary at eodbteam.wb@gmail.com

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