Italy offers single-window clearance for Indian investors

The Italian government will offer single-window clearance for Indian investors with an aim to double bilateral trade and investment between the two countries by 2050, an official said on Saturday.

The Italian government would also provide legal consultations in a bid to fast-track visa process as well, Joel Melchiori, consulate general of Italy in Kolkata, said at an event in Kolkata today.

''We have come up with a new scheme for businessmen setting up a business in Italy. There will be a single-window clearance for everything, including legal consultation and fast-track visa process,'' the official said.

There is a great scope to increase cooperation in sectors like automobile, automotive, textiles, and food processing sector, added Erica Di Giovancarlo, head of the Italian trade commission in India.

"At present 400 Italian companies have presence in India mainly in textile and automotive. India and Italy have increased their bilateral trade from 700 million euros in 1981 to 8.5 billion euros in 2011," she said.

She also proposed a programme for transfer of technical know-how and training of Indian companies so as to increase productivity.

She said while demography and retail boom acted as the driving factors of growth that attracts Italian companies to India, high import duty in the country remained a concern.