BJP says it will junk factory licences if it wins MCD polls
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday promised a host of measures, including doing away with factory licences, for Delhi’s trading community, which is considered its traditional support base, to bolster its campaign for the municipal elections scheduled on December 4. The measures will be part of the BJP’s manifesto that will be released on Friday.
According to Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, “Once we are voted back to power again, we will exempt factories in industrial areas from all kinds of licences. We will end ‘inspector raj’ and ensure ease of doing business and promote manufacturing in the Capital. Factory owners will not have to take a licence to operate businesses in 30 industrial areas.”
To be sure, abolishing factory licences will require an amendment to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, which only the Centre can do. Gupta claimed that after the BJP returns to power in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Centre will amend the Act.
“We approved a proposal to abolish the factory licences last year and sent it to the Delhi government’s urban development department for approval. But they did not do anything about it despite repeated follow up by the corporation,” he alleged, adding, “Now, the Centre will come out with a notification in this regard.”
A spokesperson of AAP declined to comment on the matter. Industries in the Capital are allowed to operate in 28 approved industrial areas under the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) and 25 nonconforming areas which have been approved for redevelopment by the state government. The corporation’s factory licensing department is tasked with facilitating and regulating industrial activities in these areas.
If the factory licences are abolished, this will provide relief to over 100,000 industrial units.
Meanwhile, industrial area associations said that MCD’s factory licences should have been abolished long ago. Sunil Malhotra, president of Okhla Industrial Area Phase 1 and 2, said, “The factory licence has become a tool of harassment, as physical inspections by officials are still de rigueur despite the process being digitised. There is no need for a factory licence at all.”