CHENNAI: In a move aimed at streamlining the scrutiny of industrial building proposals, the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) has constituted a dedicated Industrial Cell at its headquarters in Chennai to examine applications for industrial buildings with a built-up area of more than 40,000 square feet and up to 2 lakh square feet.
Stakeholders welcomed the move, stating that this would help investors and companies that are looking to set up based in the State.
An order issued by Commissioner of Town and Country Planning Kiran Gurrala dated July 30 said all industrial building applications falling within the specified built-up area would henceforth be scrutinised by the newly formed cell. District offices have also been directed to transfer all such files to the Industrial Cell immediately and furnish a compliance report.
The development comes in the backdrop of rolling out the single-window online planning approval system in 2025. The portal has enabled the ease of online processing of planning permissions, building approvals, change-of-land-use applications, and completion certificates. The newly created Industrial Cell is expected to strengthen the internal scrutiny mechanism for a specific category of industrial projects.
Industry representatives said the move could strengthen Tamil Nadu's ease-of-doing-business ecosystem if it leads to faster processing of industrial proposals.
Welcoming the initiative, AMPA Group chairman Palaniappan said a dedicated scrutiny mechanism could help improve the investment climate. "If approval is going to be through a single window with faster processing, it will definitely help investors," he said.
He added that the warehousing and logistics sector could particularly benefit from the move, noting that many medium-sized warehouse projects fall within the category covered by the new Industrial Cell. Faster scrutiny of such proposals, he said, would support companies looking to establish or expand industrial and logistics facilities in Tamil Nadu.