A 10-member delegation from the Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) visited Goa Industrial Development Corporation (Goa-IDC) to study and understand best practices adopted by the Corporation in promoting industrial growth and governance.
The delegation was led by James K. Sangma, Chairman of MIDC and former Home Minister of the Government of Meghalaya. Accompanying him were six Co-Chairmen of MIDC—Donbok Khymdeit, Donkupar Sumer, Ransom Sunga, Embhahlang Syiemlieh, El Eleazer Chyne, and Alphonse Sangma—as well as senior officials including Delanee D. Nongmalieh, Managing Director, MIDC; M. Dkhar, AGM – Finance, MIDC and Kerlang Malngiang, Advisor, MIDC.
The visit was aimed at fostering mutual learning and collaboration between the two states in the area of industrial development. The agenda for the meeting revolved around key focus areas such as grievance redressal mechanisms, regulatory reforms, digital governance, financial reforms, and infrastructure upgradation.
Pravimal Abhishek, Managing Director of Goa-IDC, warmly welcomed the visiting delegation and presented an overview of the Corporation’s operations, highlighting its ongoing projects and recent initiatives aimed at streamlining procedures, enhancing service delivery, generating employment and driving economic growth in the state. He also outlined a series of progressive reforms introduced to support environmentally sustainable industries, empower women entrepreneurs and simplify the process of establishing new businesses through state-of-the-art digital platform.
A key innovation showcased during the presentation was the OPEN portal—a unified digital platform that enables industries to manage land allotment, legal clearances, payments, building permissions, and estate management seamlessly in one place. “This is far more than a basic online application system. It offers real-time tracking and auto-generates official orders, ensuring greater speed, transparency and accountability,” he explained. The platform has been built using Digital Public Goods (DPGs)—open-source, freely accessible digital tools endorsed by the United Nations.
“Goa is one of the pioneering states in India to adopt DPGs for industrial development. The OPEN portal has led to a 60% reduction in time, documentation and procedural steps required to avail services from Goa-IDC, significantly enhancing ease of doing business in the state,” added Abhishek.
Speaking during the visit, James K. Sangma, Chairman of MIDC, noted that Goa’s model for industrial development was more relatable and applicable to Meghalaya’s context compared to approaches followed in larger states like Maharashtra. “We are here to explore practical solutions that can be effectively implemented in Meghalaya,” he said.
Sangma acknowledged that Meghalaya’s industrial ecosystem is still in a nascent stage, currently comprising only six industrial estates. “Our focus is on strategic and sustainable expansion—particularly in areas such as land allotment and investor facilitation. This visit has been an insightful learning experience and we look forward to building a collaborative relationship with Goa-IDC,” he added.
As part of the visit, the delegation was taken to the Verna Industrial Estate for an on-ground understanding of its infrastructure and operational systems. Projects in progress—including solid waste management and the white-topping of internal roads, were also showcased to the team.
