 "Goyal launches national GIS-enabled land bank system for real-time info")
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday launched the national GIS-enabled land bank system, which will help investors to get real-time information about the availability of industrial land and resources.
Launching the system, Goyal expressed confidence that other states/UTs will be onboarded by December 2020, as the project has been launched for six states.
The system is being developed by integrating the Industrial Information System (IIS) with state GIS (Geographic Information System).
This is a prototype only and will be developed further with inputs from states to make it an effective and transparent mechanism for land identification as well as procurement.
The IIS portal is a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas/clusters across the states.
"More than 3,300 industrial parks across 31 states/UTs covering about 4,75,000 hectare land have been mapped on the system. The information available includes forest, drainage; raw material heat maps (agricultural, horticulture, mineral layers); multiple layers of connectivity," the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement.
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Goyal also held a virtual meeting with the industry ministers of states, UT administrators and senior officers.
In his address, the minister called upon the states to collectively work in the spirit of 'Team India' to enhance industrial activity in the country and attract investment.
He also said that in countries where Indian companies face restrictive trade practises, the reciprocity clause may be invoked.
The minister stressed on developing a single-window system, which could be a one-stop digital platform to obtain all requisite central and state clearances/approvals required to start business operations in India.
"This could eliminate the need for investors to visit multiple platforms/ offices to gather information and obtain clearances from different stakeholders. It could leverage capabilities of existing systems and provide time-bound approvals and real-time status updates to investors," he added.
He said that even the local bodies should also be involved in this system, and a notion of deemed approval can be adopted to make the system effective.
Further, he said the states should identify products with market potential for import substitution as well as export accentuation, and establish forward and backward market linkage channels.
On Agri export policy, Goyal said so far only 14 states have finalised the action plans, and others should finalise it expeditiously.
The minister also stressed on the need for the states to incentivise value addition activity in not only agriculture but also industrial products.