The Legislative Assembly on Thursday sent to its subject committee a bill that allows entrepreneurs to start micro, small and medium industry with an investment of up to ₹10 crore with no prior sanction of the government.
The Kerala Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Facilitation Bill, 2019, is aimed at cutting red tape, dismantling the licence raj and ushering in an era of ease of doing business in the State.
The Bill gives the investor a grace period of up to three years to get the requisite sanctions and accords him or her wide latitude in getting various licences.
Single window
Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan piloted the Bill in the Assembly. He said an investor need only give an affidavit to the district-level single window clearance board of the Industries Department to start an industry or enterprise.
The investor can treat the receipt issued to him or her by the board as a sanction to set and run the enterprise for three years. The firm will have to get the mandatory clearances by the end of the leniency period.
He said the concession was only for enterprises considered non-polluting and not in the red list of polluting industries published by the State Pollution Control Board.
Valid licences
Mr. Jayarajan clarified that the investor needs to get building, PCB, water, electricity and allied permits within three years. However, at the end of the three year leniency period, the firm should have all the valid licences to run the enterprise.
Moreover, any construction by such investors should be within the ambit to the paddy and wetland conservation laws.
They should strictly adhere by the zoning decided by the local body concerned.
₹5-lakh fine
Any misuse of the provisions of the Bill will entail a fine of ₹5 lakh and blacklisting of the entrepreneur. The State Single Window Clearance Window Board would be the appellate authority for any complaints.
The Minister portrayed the Bill as a watershed in Kerala industrial development. The Assembly also sent the Kerala Industrial Single Window Clearance Boards and Industrial Township Area Development (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to the subject committee.
