Lok Sabha Question No. 220 (STARRED), answered on 2026-02-13
Subject: Conference Clearance System Portal
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, Shri Anil Firojiya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 220 FOR ANSWER ON 13/02/2026 CONFERENCE CLEARANCE SYSTEM PORTAL

*220 Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal

Shri Anil Firojiya

- Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a)   the   number   of   applications   received,   approved,   rejected   and withdrawn through the Conference Clearance System portal during the last three years; (b) the average processing time for grant of  political clearance before and after introduction of the online portal; and (c) whether any timelines or service standards have been prescribed for disposal of  applications, if  so, the details and the extent of  adherence

thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (DR. SUBRAHMANYAM JAISHANKAR)

## (a to c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARAS (A) TO (C) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 220 BY DR. SANJAY JAISWAL AND SHRI ANIL FIROJIYA TO   BE   ANSWERED   IN   LOK   SABHA   ON   13/02/2026   REGARDING CONFERENCE CLEARANCE SYSTEM PORTAL.

(a to c) The Conference Clearance System (CCS) portal (conference.epolclearance.gov.in) is an automated, single-window webbased application developed by the Ministry of External Affairs in March 2025 to streamline the process for granting political clearance to foreign nationals to attend or participate in conferences/seminars/workshops/ sports events and other events organised in India by government or private bodies.

This digital platform has ensured a smoother and hassle-free user experience with a substantial reduction in processing time as compared to the earlier mechanism. The portal also serves the larger objective of Digital   India   by   maximizing   the   number   of   services   available   on   the digital platform.

The portal serves as a centralised platform where stakeholders can access all the information related to the status of an application in one place. It features an interactive dashboard that enables the Ministry to seek   missing   or   additional   information   from   organisers   promptly, whenever required.  Organisers   can   also   monitor   the   status   of   their applications   online.   These   features   have   substantially   reduced   the average processing time.

In general, political clearance is granted within 3-5 working days. However, the actual processing time may vary on a case-to-case basis depending on several factors including the number of invitees and the countries from which participation is expected. The portal also includes a   provision   for   partial   clearance.   Under   this   mechanism,   political clearance is granted individually as soon as complete information for a foreign delegate is received and verified. Due to this feature, the overall status of application may continue to be displayed as pending on the portal,   even   though   the   political   clearance   has   been   granted   for   a majority of the delegates, in some cases upto 90 percent of the total list.

4

A total number of 4948 applications have been received on the conference clearance system portal since its launch. The details of these applications are as under:-

| Total number of applications received till 06.02.2026 1730 hrs   |   Cleared applicati on |   Partially cleared applicatio ns |   Withdraw n applicati ons |   Cases where clearance not granted | Total number of applicants who have been granted clearance since March 2025   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------------------|----------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4948 (including 232 under process applications)                  |                   4022 |                               435 |                        149 |                                 110 | 23,594                                                                        |

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