Mumbai: To improve ease of doing business, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has reduced approval and renewal timelines for industrial consent letters by over 50% across red, orange and green categories.Red category industries —classified as highly polluting and including cement plants, pesticide manufacturing units, nuclear power plants and oil and gas extraction projects—will receive consent to establish within 40 days, instead of 60. Timelines for consent to operate and renewals have been reduced from 90 days and 120 days, respectively, to 40 days.
For orange category establishments, such as building construction projects, glass manufacturing units and cotton spinning and weaving industries, the time limit for consent to establish has been cut from 45 days to 24 days, while nod to operate and renewals will be granted within 24 days, instead of 60. Green category units —considered least polluting and including aluminium utensil manufacturing, oil and gas transportation and tea processing—will get nods in 15 days, instead of 30. White category units, like waste paper baling, stay exempt from consent obligations. —Mahiyar Patel
