The Government plans to soon put in place a digitised platform that would allow investors to apply for environmental clearances and track its progress online.

The system is likely to be implemented by July, Anil Swarup, Additional Secretary & Chairman Project Monitoring Group (PMG), said at a CII conference on project clearances.

“More Ministries and Departments are expected to embrace digitisation gradually. We are in talks with the Mining Ministry and it could be the next,” Swarup said.

The PMG, constituted by the Prime Minister’s Office for facilitating clearances of large infrastructure projects, is leading the digitisation drive that would allow investors to track real-time the movement of their applications and documents.

While digitisation of clearance processes would ensure fast tracking of approvals through instituting transparency and accountability, it will further facilitate getting various stakeholders at the ground level, for early resolution of the issues, said Swarup. The PMG has put in place a web-based model for monitoring clearances of stuck projects. It has facilitated clearance of around 147 projects worth ₹5 lakh crore over the past year.

The new Government will need to revive investments and push infrastructure projects within the three months of being elected to bring economic growth back on track, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on the sidelines of the conference.

Note of caution

Speaking to reporters, Ahluwalia said if the problems are not solved within the first three months, one could forget about getting back to high growth.

An annual average economic growth of 8 per cent is targeted in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), which was approved by the country’s apex decision making body National Development Council (NDC) and all cabinet and chief ministers on its board in December 2012.

The economy is expected to grow at 4.9 per cent this fiscal, as per estimates made by the Government.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at 4.5 per cent last fiscal which was the lowest in a decade.

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