CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Commission has directed departments to strictly adhere to the 21-day deadline for granting approvals to industries under the amended Business Facilitation Act.The commission, headed by chief secretary M Sai Kumar and comprising secretaries from various departments and industry representatives, held its first meeting on Friday. “The deemed approval procedure should be notified once the 21-day deadline expires. Penal action should be initiated against those responsible for violating the stipulated timeline,” an official said. The commission directed the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) to allow industries to establish their own high-tension and extra-high-tension power connections. Developers of large projects will be permitted to procure the electrical equipment required for such connections.The commission reviewed the progress of 112 MoUs signed since May 2026, involving investment commitments of ₹1.14 lakh crore. It noted that 83 projects had reached the land acquisition stage or beyond, taking the implementation rate to 74%. Also, 19,323 of the 21,753 applications received through Guidance Tamil Nadu’s single-window portal for approvals, licences and no-objection certificates had been disposed of.At the meeting, SIPCOT was asked to assess the electricity and water requirements of industrial units for the next 10 years. SIPCOT, TIDCO and ELCOT were asked to review unused land under their control and facilitate its allotment.“The commission directed the departments to take steps to increase Tamil Nadu’s exports from the current $59 billion to $72 billion. District-level export promotion seminars should be organised on the lines of the state-level export conclave held earlier,” the release said. Tourism-related projects will be treated as industrial projects and processed through the single-window clearance system.More than 25 reforms had been announced across 11 departments to improve ease of doing business since May. These include removing the requirement for no-objection certificates to use dry and wet agricultural land for industrial purposes, extending the validity of trade licences issued by urban local bodies from three years to 10 years, and increasing the validity of recognition certificates for private schools from three years to 20 years. MSME department will allot plots within 30 days of receiving applications.The meeting reviewed the proposed Industrial Policy 2027, and the upcoming projects, TN Knowledge City, Arivagam AI City, Coimbatore Digital Fintech Hub, Trichy Multimodal Logistics Hub, TIDEL Neo parks and a proposed GCC corridor.
