National Single Window System: All states, UTs, govt departments to integrate with NSWS by December, says DPIIT Secy

All the states, union territories and 32 central government departments will integrate with the National Single Window System (NSWS) by December this year, through which companies can seek all approvals and clearances for their businesses, a top official said on Thursday.

So far 19 states/UTs and 27 central government departments are already onboarded, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Karnataka, the Secretary in the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) Anurag Jain said here.

He was speaking at a joint meeting of the India-Japan business cooperation committee meeting.

The system is aimed at reducing duplicity of information submission to different ministries, reduce compliance burden, cut gestation period of projects, and promote ease of starting and doing business.

NSWS enables the identification, applying and subsequent tracking of approvals for all integrated states and central departments.

"Going forward - we are targeting that by December 2023 all 36 states and UTs will be onboarded and all 32 departments of the central government will be onboarded ? We are trying to bring the whole of the government on one single screen," Jain said.

He said that both the centre and state governments will be there, so that it will be truly transformational for ease of doing business in the country.

Seeing investments from Japan, Jain said that huge investment opportunities are there in India.

"Next three decades will be India's growth story  - come and be part of India's growth story," he said.

Japan is one of the largest investors in India.

Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India said that Japan and India should take lead in securing peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region beyond for the entire world as both nations share same values.

He also said that there is a need to increase the number of Japanese companies investing in India as there are emerging opportunities in various sectors.

"India is high on the radar screen of Japanese top business leaders," he added.

At the event, a Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas knowledge report was released on 'Why India as an Investment Destination for Japanese SMEs & Large Corporates'.

According to the report, India provides diverse opportunities for cooperation between Indian entities and Japanese SMEs to achieve mutually beneficial partnerships and economic growth.

"There is immense scope for Japan to unlock the investment potential in SMEs in India in various sectors, including but not limited to manufacturing, electronics, food, renewable energy etc," it added.

Shardul S Shroff, Executive Chairman of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, said that both nations need to capitalise a foundational partnership and approach towards a more sustainable economic integration.