There would hardly be a businessman in Goa, who doesn’t count among his nightmares going to a government department to seek an approval. It’s well known that most departments in the state take forever to give approvals.
On the top of that, the business community has to take a number of approvals even for simple businesses like a guest-house or a cafe. No wonder then that Goa ranked 21 across all states and union-territories of India in 2016 on the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ parameter.
However, there is a ray of hope for the state in form of Investment Promotion Board (IPB)’s website, which was launched last week by CM himself and which is aimed at becoming single window for all the government approvals for industries.
With the launch of the website, the businessmen can now apply online for seeking several approvals from the government. Industrialists wanting to set up a new factory can also go online and submit an application.
As much as possible, IPB will communicate with industrialists electronically, which means their physical presence in most cases at a government office will not be required. Not only that, IPB will also let the businessmen know if and why their application is getting stuck at another government department.
In short, if a business has all the required documents, chances are very high that it will not be physically running from pillar to post at government departments for getting approvals. They will be able to simply go online and get approvals. However, depending upon the nature of their case, their physical presence may be necessary at times.
This is a once in life-time opportunity for the State Government and its bureaucracy to show the industrial sector that it indeed is serious about making it easier to do business in Goa. And for this, it is really important that government departments like Power, Water, Labour, Goa State Pollution Control Board and many others work in a co-ordinated manner to help the industries.
Throughout 2018, there were complaints that the Power Department wasn’t really helping the industries. Such attitude will have to change if IPB’s single window website intends to make it easier to do business in the state.
The politicians, despite their differences, will have to come together and work towards improving Goa’s reputation as a business destination. With mining shut and tourism facing slowdown, IPB’s website may just turn out to be the very booster Goa’s economy needs.
The efforts, as far as the website is concerned, are in the right direction. Now is the time for all the departments and IPB to execute the plans and make Goa a good destination for business.
