Punjab industries and commerce minister Manoranjan Kalia has said that the state government has implemented the system of ?deemed approvals? to facilitate the process of approvals for projects by different state government departments.
The Punjab Industrial Facilitation Act says that departments will grant approvals in a time-bound manner and in case approvals are not given within prescribed time schedule, the approval of the concerned department will be treated as deemed approval.
The state commerce minister also said the state government has issued a notification under Section 14, Sub-section (2) of the Punjab Industrial Facilitation Act, specifying a time schedule for each clearance, such as grant of change of land use, grant of licence under the PAPR Act-1995, consent to establish and consent to operate by the pollution control board, site clearance for hazardous industries, approval of building plans and permission/ licence for DG sets/ back up power.
Another notification under Section-15 of the Act, which provides for deemed approval in case approval by the competent authority is not granted within the prescribed time schedule, has also been issued. As per this notification, in such cases, the department of industries & commerce will issue the deemed approval after the expiry of the prescribed time schedule.
Kalia also added that these steps would give an impetus to industrial development in the state. He also said the department is modifying composite application forms to make them comprehensive. The system of online submission of composite application forms and its online transfer to the concerned departments is also been introduced.
SS Channy, principal secretary, industries and commerce, said that after the implementation of the Act, if it is found that there is an intentional delay by any official in any department, the government can take disciplinary action under the Punishment and Appeal Rules.