Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal today virtually inaugurated Vanijya Bhawan and Udyog Bhawan in Jaipur, marking the beginning of the co-location of offices of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and its associated and affiliated organisations at a single location. Jaipur has become the first city and the first State capital to bring all these offices together under one roof.

Congratulating the Departments of Commerce and Departments for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on the initiative, Shri Goyal said that the project should mark the beginning of rapid action towards implementing the concept across the country, particularly in every State capital. He said that 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. They would also support businesses and industry in their journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047.

Emphasising that the initiative must become a collective commitment of the entire ecosystem, Shri Goyal called for the active participation of government offices, stakeholders, State Government representatives, exporters, importers, investors and businesses. 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 comply with the laws of the land.

The Minister directed that all processes, including applications for licences and permits, SCOMET approvals and other services, should move entirely online. He set 31st March 2027 as the deadline for completing the necessary digitisation, including the digitisation of past data and records at the Regional Authorities (RAs) of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) across the country. From 1st April 2027, no person should be required or expected to visit any of the offices physically for these services.

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

Shri 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. He said that improved coordination between the two departments and the various organisations under the Ministry would be essential to achieving the objectives of the initiative.

The Minister informed that the Ministry currently has around 500 offices and 46 organisations. Except for very large campuses, such as the large office of ECGC in Mumbai, which would continue to function independently, the other offices 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.

He said that even where officials of a particular organisation were not physically stationed at a co-located office, people would be encouraged to interact with them through video conferencing. Accordingly, Shri Goyal directed that adequate video conferencing facilities be provided at every co-located office, with the provision to expand them to two or three counters depending on the size and requirements of the office.

The Minister emphasised that these centres should increasingly function as facilitation and promotion offices. Their role would be to promote investments and foreign trade, assist people seeking guidance, attract investments into India, encourage capital expenditure in the country and promote exports. He clarified that their purpose should not be limited to facilitating the issuance of licences.

Shri Goyal said that the co-location of offices, digitisation and introduction of faceless assessments would enhance transparency, accountability and public confidence. A unified presence of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in each State would assure businesses and stakeholders that they could access support and guidance through a single location.

Highlighting the importance of efficient service delivery amid considerable uncertainty and volatility in international trade and global geopolitical affairs, the Minister said that time was of the essence and competitiveness was crucial for success. He called upon officials to ensure that the functioning of every office was facilitative, supportive, friendly and helpful. He added that bringing offices together under one roof would also help establish checks and balances in their functioning.

The Minister directed that every office be equipped with CCTV cameras connected to a central server in Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi, to enable random monitoring of work being undertaken across the country. He clarified that the objective was not continuous monitoring but periodic checks to oversee functioning and provide protection against theft and other such incidents.

He further directed that all offices must possess the necessary approvals required for their functioning, including Fire Brigade approvals and approvals under the Shops and Establishments Act. Emphasising the importance of workplace facilities, he said that every office must have high-quality toilets for men and women, with multi-gender facilities wherever appropriate in smaller offices. All offices must also have accessible toilets for persons with disabilities. He stressed that the quality of these facilities should be at least at par with, and preferably better than, those at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi, and directed that adequate resources be allocated for this purpose.

Shri Goyal also emphasised that furniture and equipment should be modular wherever possible and that all procurement, including furniture, equipment, lighting and curtains, should be domestic or Swadeshi, except where absolutely unavoidable.

The Minister urged officials to examine opportunities for further reducing timelines and introducing deemed approvals wherever feasible. He called upon the Secretaries, Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries to regularly conduct video conferences or hybrid meetings with stakeholders across different regions. He also stressed the need to continuously identify ways to reduce paperwork and make it easier for people to obtain services and outcomes from the Ministry's offices.

Shri Goyal said that the initiative would strengthen teamwork within the two departments and among various internal and external stakeholders, improve coordination between different wings of the Ministry and enhance overall operational efficiency. It would help the Ministry become more contemporary and modern while preparing it for its role in the journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047.

Highlighting the expanding responsibilities of the Ministry in the context of several new trade agreements and the opening up of new markets, the Minister said that India had emerged as a bold, confident and unstoppable economy on the global stage. He emphasised the need to prepare the country for the goal of becoming a USD 30 trillion economy by 2047.

Reiterating that the fundamental responsibility of the Ministry was to serve the people and businesses of India, Shri Goyal said that, as Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has emphasised, the citizen is like God and the Government's responsibility is to serve citizens with that spirit.

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Abhishek Dayal/ Abhijith Narayanan/ Ishita Biswas

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