Patna, Dec. 17: Investors wishing to set up industry in the state must mark Wednesday prominently on their calendars - to get officials of seven departments at Udyog Mitra examine their proposals and issue clearances.

Interested parties must submit all requisite documents by Friday at the Udyog Mitra office located at Indira Bhavan along Bailey Road.

"The system will begin next Wednesday. Officials of commercial taxes, labour resource, excise and prohibition, Bihar State Pollution Control Board, North Bihar Power Distribution Company Private Limited, South Bihar Power Distribution Company Private Limited and Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (Biada), will be present at the Udyog Mitra office. All investors wanting to get no-objection certificates (NoCs) to start their units and firms should come to the office the previous Friday and submit the related documents. The investors can then come down by 11am the next Wednesday and collect their NoCs and clear any doubts with the officials present. The department considers that things would get streamlined a bit with this new system," a department official told The Telegraph on Thursday.

In talks with The Telegraph on December 15, industries minister Jai Kumar Singh had said that the same system was being planned and would be implemented soon.

"An investor needs clearances from these seven departments. For example, he will need an NoC from the energy department, an NoC from the pollution control board and sales tax registration from the pollution control board among others. If at all an investor doesn't get any of the clearances on Wednesday, the investor can ask the department offocials about the problem and can accordingly rectify it. The department intends to make it a regular feature till a fully online single window system starts," said the official.

The state's approval process is quite cumbersome with a majority of investors compelled to run from one department's table to the other to get their unit opened in Bihar. The absence of a single window system has been one among the main reasons behind big investors skipping the state.

Last week, department officials had said they would sit twice a week at Udyog Mitra but fixed Wednesday later.

Principal industries secretary Tripurari Sharan said: "There is already an operational system to get projects approved. However, the department is working towards further strengthening it and make it investor-friendly."

Investors were optimistic about the new system. "With officials of seven important departments under one roof, no investor will not have to run from one office to the other for approvals," Harish Singh, a small-time entrepreneur engaged in the food processing business.