MUMBAI: Alarmed by large-scale delays and rampant red-tapism, the forest department on Thursday promulgated a 15-page order that permission for felling trees to set up industries should be granted within 30 days in special cases. A senior bureaucrat said proposals for industrial purposes will be expedited and tree-felling permission granted within 30 days as a special case, while in other cases, the application will be disposed of within 60 days, failing which it will be presumed that the deemed felling permission has been given to the applicant.
In view of procedural delays, the department of industrial policy and promotion has communicated a reform action plan on ease of doing business and informed that states will be ranked based on the measures taken to opertionalize the plan. One of the important reforms relates to the ease with which permission for felling of trees is accorded while establishing new industry in order to facilitate ease of doing business. "The reform action plan has identified basic issues relating to tree-felling permission granted by the forest department. As there were no specific guidelines, for the first time, a deadline has been fixed while granting permission," the bureaucrat said.