As many as 1,744 industrial projects were given security clearance in 2015. In comparison, 815 investment proposals were cleared in 2014 and 712 proposals in 2013, a Home Ministry official said.
The huge jump in investment proposals geting the nod came after the Home Ministry issued policy guidelines for assessment of proposals for national security clearance on July 1, 2015.
"The aim is to ensure an objective balance between the requirements of national security and the imperatives of rapid economic growth," the official said.
The Home Ministry has defined security rating parameters to evaluate the proposals uniformly.
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The national security clearance policy was drawn up by the Home Ministry to fast-track the security clearance process within 4-6 weeks as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ease of business mantra under the Make In India initiative.
As per the policy, the promoters, owners and directors of the company are mandated to give self declarations regarding any criminal history on their part which reduced the period required to give security clearance from 2-3 months earlier to to just 4-6 weeks now.
A total of 14-15 parameters have been set out in 8-9 sensitive areas like telecom, ports, civil aviation, uplinking/ downlinking of TV channels or FM stations.
The Home Ministry has also spelt out locations where foreign investment is not welcome - such as locations close to border and vital installations.