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, the industry body CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) has said. The industry body has said 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.

India has made good progress in ensuring the ease of construction permits, but the industry believes there's a need to streamline permit processes on a pan-India level. Globally, too, India has made some progress in its ranking, as per the World Bank’s Doing Business Report, leapfrogging from 185th in 2017 to 27th in 2020 in the ‘dealing with construction permits’ parameter. Delhi and Mumbai drove the overall improvement rally.

Here are the key suggestions made by CII to streamline construction permit requirements in India:

1. States must have an effective online single window system (SWS) for the integrated submission, processing and the approval of construction permits, with features like an online fee calculator to estimate permit costs, integrated payment solutions, auto scrutiny of building plans with advanced software like auto development control regulation (DCR), online building plan approval system, dynamic dashboard to track status on applications, legally binding deemed approval timelines and faceless approval process. A unified state-level authority should oversee the integration and smooth functioning of all approvals, including fire safety, environmental clearances and utility connections, across departments within this system.

2. CII says a single joint site inspection should be conducted by all relevant authorities, including fire, sewerage, electricity, etc., to reduce redundancy and ensure inspections are coordinated, which will shorten the overall timeline for approvals.

3. Conditional approvals should be provided 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. Additionally, an online feature should be enabled to allow amendments to building and layout plans, which will prevent unnecessary delays.

4. Enforce strict timelines at each stage of the permit approval process with clearly defined deadlines for departments and mandatory digital time stamps on all file movements, as well as responses to enable accurate tracking.

5. For projects within specified size limits, such as G+4 (ground plus four floor) residential buildings, plotted layouts and small commercial spaces, pre-approved standardised design templates should be developed. This will streamline the approval process and significantly accelerate clearances for lower-risk developments.

6. CII has also called for allowing certified third-party agencies to conduct compliance inspections, verifying that building plans meet required standards. Additionally, it has called for establishing state-regulated pools of empanelled, certified structural auditors responsible for statutory clearances after construction. This shall help in reducing the workload on government inspectors.

7. CII says the uniform building code or building by-law should include detailed responsibilities and professional standards for all parties involved, particularly architects and engineers. These standards should define each professional’s role in ensuring compliance with safety, zoning and environmental rules, promoting high practice and accountability. Additionally, mandatory training and certification programs for approving officers, municipal staff, and empanelled professionals should be implemented to ensure consistent code interpretation and reduce delays.

8. There is also 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 underutilisation of land across states. It would be useful to develop broad guidelines for states for allowing 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.

9. Lastly, as there is no standardised mechanism to assess and compare the efficiency and transparency of construction permitting processes across states, CII says 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 digitisation depth. The index should be updated on a real-time basis by picking up performance indicators from the single window system of states/UTs.