Indian states need to improve the ease of obtaining construction permits, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said on Thursday, calling for pan-India reforms to streamline construction permit processes and procedures.
The ease of providing construction permits holds the key to attaining the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047, as building modern, resilient, and inclusive infrastructure is imperative for industrial progress, improved living standards, and enhanced global competitiveness, the industry body said.
India has made commendable progress in the ease of doing business, as reflected in the World Bank’s latest Doing Business report. Based on New Delhi and Mumbai’s performance, the country’s ranking leapfrogged from 185 in 2017 to 27 in 2020 in the ‘Dealing with Construction Permits’ parameter.
Many other states have also introduced innovative practices to streamline the process in this important area.
Yet, the CII stressed that obtaining construction permits in most states continues to be cumbersome, complex, offline, non-transparent, and time-consuming.
“While India’s infrastructure ambitions largely centre around an agile and transparent construction permits ecosystem, fragmented approvals and procedural delays surrounding it continue to pose challenges for industry across the majority of states,” elaborated Ajay Shriram, Ajay Shriram, chairman of the CII Task Force on Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), and chairman and senior managing director of DCM Shriram Ltd.
“A cohesive, technology-driven, faceless, time-bound, trust-based, and accountable framework is the need of the hour for ensuring adherence to project timelines and boosting investors’ confidence,” he added.
The CII has proposed nine reforms to streamline construction permit requirements.
First, states must have an effective online single window system (SWS) for the integrated submission, processing, and the approval of construction permits. A unified state-level authority should oversee integration and smooth functioning of all approvals, including fire safety, environmental clearances and utility connections, across departments within this system.
Second, the CII has suggested that all relevant authorities, including fire, sewerage, electricity, etc., must conduct a single joint site inspection to reduce redundancy and ensure coordination of inspections, thereby shortening the overall timeline for approvals.
Third, enable conditional approvals in cases where only minor documentation gaps exist, instead of outright rejection and requiring full resubmissions. Also, auto-generated deficiency notes should clearly identify specific missing or incorrect items.
Fourth, enforce strict timelines at each stage of the permit approval process, with clearly defined department deadlines and mandatory digital time stamps on all file movements and responses to enable accurate tracking.
Fifth, for projects within specified size limits, such as G+4 (ground plus four floor) residential buildings, plotted layouts and small commercial spaces, pre-approved standardized design templates should be developed. This will streamline the approval process and significantly accelerate clearances for lower-risk developments.
The sixth suggestion is to allow certified third-party agencies to conduct compliance inspections, verifying that building plans meet required standards.
Seventh, the uniform building code/building by-law should include detailed responsibilities and professional standards for all parties involved, particularly architects and engineers.
Eight, there is a need to revisit restrictive building regulations for industrial plots, particularly limits on ground coverage (horizontal expansion) and floor area ratio (vertical expansion), which lead to significant underutilization of land across states. It would be useful to develop broad guidelines for states to allow greater flexibility in plot usage, taking into account local conditions, technological advancements, water recharge needs, safety considerations, as well as best practices from states and other countries.
Lastly, the CII said, as there is no standardized mechanism to assess and compare the efficiency and transparency of construction permitting processes across states, it may be useful to launch a ‘National Construction Permitting Reform Index’ (NCPRI) to benchmark and rank states/UTs on key indicators such as approval timelines, compliance rates, inspector accountability, and digitization depth. The index should be updated on a real-time basis by picking up performance indicators from the single window system of states/UTs.
“Adopting these reforms will catalyze India’s infrastructure development by reducing bottlenecks, promoting transparency, and encouraging investments. The CII remains committed to partnering with all relevant stakeholders to realize a construction sector that matches India’s growth aspirations and global competitiveness,” Shriram said.
