As part of Kerala government’s initiatives to enhance ease of doing business environment, the Kerala single window interface for fast and transparent clearance (KSWIFT) has been modified to facilitate immediate clearance for investment proposals up to Rs 10 crore.
Launching the upgraded KSWIFT portal here on Monday, Kerala industries minister E P Jayarajan, said: “The live website will be a boon for entrepreneurs. There are 1,38,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in Kerala and around 52,000 of them were set up after this government came into power. An investment of Rs 4,500 crore has come to this sector during this period.” .
He noted that food processing; furniture cluster; steel manufacturing, tourism, hospitality and travel have been identified as the top five MSME sectors in the State.
The MSME sector also provides employment to 8.9 lakh people and around 1.2 lakh jobs had been created by this segment during the last two years, the minister noted.
“The huge response from entrepreneurs at the recently held global investors meet ASCEND Kerala 2020 is a reflection of high investor confidence Kerala now enjoys and an endorsement of the measures the state Government has taken,” Jayarajan added.
Envisaged as a single-window online interface between entrepreneurs and the government, the upgraded KSWIFT platform has expedited issuance of licences and approvals from all the government department and agencies after submission of investment proposals through a Common Application Form (CAF).
Presently, services of 15 Departments/ Agencies are available on the platform reducing the physical touch-points and bureaucratic delays, which had proved stumbling blocks in fast-tracking investment proposals in the past.