Thiruvananthapuram, Sept. 16 -- The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday approved the 'SARAL Kerala' (Simplified and Accelerated Regulatory Approvals and Licenses) scheme aimed at attracting new investments and businesses to the State by making the process of obtaining various licences and approvals faster and simpler, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said.

The scheme will be based on the "One-State-One-Approval-One-Document" (OSAD) concept, under which a Single Statutory Authority will be constituted to provide various approvals through a single mechanism. The Cabinet has also decided to make substantial amendments to 19 existing laws for implementing the scheme.

Under the new system, a district-level body will deal with investments between Rs 25 cro...