Stone crusher owners to oppose new Act

Stone crusher owners have decided to oppose the Punjab Regulation of Crusher Units and Stockists and Retailers Act — 2025, passed by the Punjab Assembly. They alleged the Act would making business unviable for them.

The secretary of the association of Ropar stone crusher owners, Sarabjit Singh, said they had decided to launch a state-wide stir.

On Monday, they would meet the deputy commissioners of their respective districts and submit memorandums. We would seek time to meet the CM. He said under the new Act, an environment management charge was proposed to be levied on the stone crushers.

“The permission for these units is obtained from the Punjab Pollution Control Board and their work doesn’t directly impact the environment. The environment management fund should be levied on mining leaseholders and not on stone crusher owners,” Sarabjit said.

“The Act also proposes to levy mineral processing fee on stone crusher owners on account of damage to road and other infrastructure due to plying of heavy vehicles for transporting minerals. The material is purchased and transported from stone crushers by third parties or ends users and stone crusher owners should not be held liable for that,” he said.