New Delhi: The newly elected Delhi government has decided to strike out the requirement of consent from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and MCD trade license for setting up small scale industries. The issuance of acknowledgment was needed under the provisions of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED), 2006 Act.
Delhi industries minister Satyendra Jain on Tuesday said, “This is only for small-scale industries. There are no polluting industries of the scale in Delhi, so what is the point of an environmental clearance.
Both the requirements regarded an acknowledgment needed from the MCD and the DPCC — which was only bureaucratic red tape. Our effort is to make Delhi as pro-industry as possible and we want to do away with such time-consuming, needless processes.”
The DPCC divided consent for MSME under two categories — 194 types of green category MSME, which include enterprises with low pollution levels and required “simplified” consent from the DPCC.
The second category includes 393 types of moderately polluting enterprises which includes enterprises ranging from automobile servicing and repairs stations to hotels. “The red categories of enterprises which are selected as highly polluting, are scarce in Delhi and they are scrutinized under strict laws,” a senior environment department official said.
“Keeping a tab on all the existing small-scale industries was very complicated. We have very little manpower and it's impossible for us to actually monitor on a regular basis the extent to which certified industries are polluting.
Hotels might not be managing their waste properly or sewage from a automobile repair shop may be dumped into a stream.” said a DPCC official
“There exist a number of small-scale and completely illegal polluting unit — these are often in areas where any action taken leads to a political backlash. Our hands are tied in the matter” added the official.
Officials also revealed that a large number of traders found it difficult to seek acknowledgment from DPCC and MCD trade license under the existing MSMED Act. These requirements of license often resulted in delay, harassment and increase in transaction cost in doing business.
“Instead of getting separate acknowledgment from the DPCC and the MCD, we will forward a copy of the registration of industries to the two bodies. This will make the process smoother,” the official added.
