Big push to ease of doing biz: Five major cities opened to all non-polluting industries

In a major push to boost investment and simplify approvals, the Nayab Singh Saini government has permitted all non-polluting industrial activities in mixed land use zones across five major cities — Panchkula, Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat and Hisar.

Move part of compliance reduction

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• Panchkula, Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat and Hisar development plans may allow all non-polluting industries

• Move part of the “compliance reduction and deregulation docket under the ease of doing business.”

• HSPCB empowered to bar other hazardous, polluting or nuisance-causing industries

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Under the new dispensation, “all industrial activity, other than about 10 industries listed in the ‘prohibited list’, will be allowed under mixed land use in the development plans” of these cities. The government has clarified that “all other activities will be permissible in the mix land use zone in accordance with the prevailing policy parameters.”

The decision forms part of the state’s “compliance reduction and deregulation docket under the ease of doing business”, according to an official communication issued by the Additional Chief Secretary, Town and Country Planning. The communication was sent to the Director, Town and Country Planning; Director General, Urban Local Bodies; and the chief executive officers of the Metropolitan Development Authorities of Sonepat, Gurugram, Faridabad, Hisar and Panchkula.

What remains prohibited

The updated ‘prohibited list’ bars heavy and high-risk industrial activities that generate pollution or hazardous waste. These include large manufacturing plants, chemical units, refineries, petrochemical industries and waste disposal facilities such as landfills or hazardous waste sites. Also disallowed are nuclear installations, slaughterhouses, tanneries and dairy, poultry or piggery units known to cause odour and environmental issues.

Other activities prohibited in mixed land use zones include storage of hazardous or flammable materials — such as gas godowns, oil depots and petroleum storage facilities — as well as mining and quarrying operations involving blasting or extensive excavation. Cemeteries, crematoriums, burial grounds, electric crematoriums and farmhouses are also barred.

The order adds that the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) may identify and restrict “other hazardous, polluting and nuisance-causing uses”, and that the government may prohibit any additional activity “in public interest” within mixed land use zones.