India, May 7 -- To speed up approvals and increase accountability, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner Naval Kishore Ram issued orders on Thursday to decentralise approval powers within the building permission department.

The order replaces a 2010 directive issued during the tenure of the then municipal commissioner, under which deputy engineers of the building permission department had effectively become the final approving authority for most building permissions.

Under the revised system, approval powers will now be distributed among different engineering ranks based on the size of the proposed development project.

As per the new order, proposals where the total built-up area is below 2,000 square metres will be approved at...