The Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) has welcomed the Karnataka Government’s move to bring changes to the Karnataka Industries (Facilitation) Act, 2002.

This has been a long-standing demand of all the chambers to infuse fresh capex into the State.

The proposed amendments seek to change the investment approval ceilings of the State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) and the Single Window Clearance Committee (SWCC).

The amendments empower the SWCC to clear project proposals involving investments up to Rs 250 crore instead of the current Rs 50 crore. Similarly, the State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) is now empowered to clear proposals of Rs 250 crore and above.

“This is exactly what BCIC has been clamouring for for the last couple of years. The amendments are crucial to the Act and will change the face of investment approval ceilings and create a conducive atmosphere for faster clearance of new industrial projects coming up in the State,” said M. Lakshminarayan, President BCIC.

“The proposal to amend the Act is a decisive and positive move that will bring far-reaching changes in approval procedures,” he added.

Echoing a similar sentiment, H. V. Harish, Senior Vice-President, BCIC said: “We are sure once the amendments are duly approved, huge capex investments will flow into the State as one of the major bottlenecks holding up new project proposals relates to clearance aspects.”

“Our concern is that just amending the law is not the only parameter. It should be strictly implemented in the true spirit of the Act, which will only then witness some positive capex pouring into the State,” he added.

>anil.u@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics