Piyush Goyal inaugurates Vanaja Bhawan, Udyog Bhawan in Jaipur; calls for co-location of more offices

New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday inaugurated Vanijya Bhawan and Udyog Bhawan in Jaipur, making it the first city and first state capital to bring offices of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and its associated organisations under a single location. 

The inauguration marked the beginning of the co-location of offices of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, according to an official statement.

Goyal urged rapid action towards implementing the concept across the country, particularly in every state capital.

These centres would serve as hubs to support industry and international trade and function as one-stop locations for activities relating to the promotion of exports, investments and internal trade, the minister said.

Out of around 500 offices and 46 organisations under the ministry, most of them, except very large campuses, such as the large office of ECGC in Mumbai would be brought under the co-location arrangement. He clarified that the co-located centres would not provide services only for the organisations physically situated there but would facilitate services across all 46 organisations and different departments under the ministry.

Goyal called for the active participation of government offices, stakeholders, state government representatives, exporters, importers, investors and businesses in the initiative.

He stressed that the objective should go beyond administrative consolidation and extend to transforming service delivery, simplifying processes and making it easier to do business and legal compliance.

The minister directed that all processes, including applications for licences and permits, SCOMET approvals, other services, should move entirely online and set March 31, 2027 as the deadline for completing the necessary digitisation.

These include the digitisation of past data and records at the Regional Authorities (RAs) of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) across the country. No person should be required or expected to visit any of the offices physically for these services From April 1, 2027.

A small counter could be provided to facilitate verification and uploading of documents, wherever physical verification of original documents is necessary, he said.

Computers could also be installed at office entrances to enable simultaneous verification and uploading of documents, wherever required. The Minister encouraged self-certification and greater trust in stakeholders, stressing that the government should demonstrate its confidence in citizens and businesses.

Goyal also called for the simplification of processes, formats and forms, and urged the departments to break organisational silos and work collectively to deliver better outcomes for businesses and citizens.

—IANS

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