Pulses millers to get licence for 15 years

While the government has not agreed to the demand to scrap the licence fully, the government has agreed to a period of 15 years for a licence, he said. The millers have been working on this issue since the year 2017, he added.

Written by FE Bureau

Updated: August 28, 2019 00:43 IST

Of the 1,200 applications received by the government, import licences have been granted to around 1,118 millers for the import of tur, Agrawal said.

The All India Pollution Control Board (AIPCB) has agreed to grant licences to dal millers of the country for a period of 15 years instead of the earlier practice of issuing licences for period of 3-5 years, senior representatives of the industry has said.

The All India Dal Mills Association (AIDMA) had approached the Union government for doing away with the system of issuing No Objection Certificate (NOC) licences by the Pollution Control Board.

A delegation led by Suresh Agrawal, president of the association, met senior officials of AIPCB to scrap the licence system or the system of issuing NOCs for the industry. “The pollution control boards of most states issue these licences for a period of 3-5 years and it is a very tedious process,” Agrawal pointed out.

As per the existing Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1981, dal mills in the state are required to acquire NOCs from the Pollution Control Board annually after which these NOCs are shown to the Electricity Board to continue with electricity connections . The NOCs are renewed on an annual, three yearly or five yearly basis after which the industries are granted licences, he said.

The dal millers process Chana, Tur, Udad, Moong, Matar, Masur, Moth for edible purposes and the latest dust controller and Sortex machines are used to ensure that there is no dust or pollution of any kind, he claimed.

Agrawal cited the example of Rajasthan that has categorised dal mills in the Green category but has done away with the need to obtain NOCs annually and has issued a one-time licence for these industries. Similarly, Delhi has brought the dal mills in the White category whereby these mills are no longer required to obtain NOCs from the Pollution Control Board. The association has suggested that Maharashtra should adopt a similar system as Rajasthan or Delhi and do away with the need for licences, he said. Maharashtra has over 700 dal mills and a single mill does business worth Rs 2-5 lakh on a daily basis.

The millers also have been given permission to import around 190 tonne of tur by the Centre. Of the 1,200 applications received by the government, import licences have been granted to around 1,118 millers for the import of tur, Agrawal said.

The imports have been permitted for a two month period from September to October 30, he said. These pulses are expected to be imported from Burma, Mozambique, South Africa, Malawi and Kenya, among other nations. Accordingly, millers have started placing import orders for Tur (Arhar).

This article was first uploaded on August twenty-eight, twenty nineteen, at thirty-five minutes past twelve in the am.