Centre’s three-member task force to visit UT on Dec 9 to review industrial concerns

Amid growing discontent among local industrialists over delays in policy reforms, the Centre has decided to send a high-level task force to the city on December 9 to review the challenges faced by industrialists and recommend solutions.

The Centre constituted the task force for deregulation of regulatory challenges and streamlining processes to improve ease of doing business for industries in Chandigarh.

The task force — headed by Surendrakumar Bagde, Director General, National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) — will look into deregulation options and measures to simplify procedures under the ease-of-doing-business. The officials will hold discussions with industry representatives on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A delegation of industrialists had recently met senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Delhi on December 3 and submitted a detailed representation. Industrialists say that despite repeated reminders, their demands have not been taken seriously and unit owners continued to face building violations or misuse notices. Some notices were totally vague and did not disclose the type and quantum of building violations and some did not even mention the provision under which the notice was issued, making it difficult for an allottee to defend the same, they said.

“Many violations such as temporary coverage of central courtyard have not been permitted, but still the proceedings regarding them are not being closed. Certain types of activities which are ancillary to an industrial establishment, were allowed vide notification dated February 25, 2019. However, even thereafter, the proceedings regarding those violations are being kept pending without any conclusion,” they said.

One of the most important concerns of the industrialists remains the status of leasehold industrial plots. Many of these plots, allotted in the 1970s, still lack clear property titles, preventing owners from securing loans or expanding operations.

The absence of a clear transfer framework until 2010 has further led to disputes, keeping several plots locked in litigation and restricting industrial growth.

Notably, in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in September 2023, the MHA had stated that amendments to the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952 — needed to revise penalties and address misuse of premises — were under inter-ministerial consultation. “Even after two years, no progress has been made in this connection,” say industrialists.