After Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh announced major changes in their labour laws, Gujarat has now joined the league by exempting new projects from provisions of labour laws. However, the relaxation will be applicable if the unit is committed to work for at least 1200 days. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has announced that the rules under existing labour law, pertaining to minimum wages, safety and compensation in case of accidents will continue to be effective and there will be no relaxations in these three domains.

Gujarat’s move towards relaxing labour laws have come after Yogi Adityanath’s UP government announced withdrawing all the labour laws, except three laws and one provision, for the next three years and the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that new registration and license for companies, shops, etc, will be done in one day, compared to 30 days.

Also Read: India moves big labour law changes to limit coronavirus impact; UP, MP, Punjab, others make these changes

Vijay Rupani also said that the state Government will welcome companies that are currently operating in the US, China and other countries and want to shift in Gujarat and it is coordinating with Indian embassies in foreign countries for the same. He added that the state officials are working to attract companies that want shift base from China as Gujarat has plug and production facility for industrial projects available at various locations including Sanand, Dahej, SEZs, GIDC estates and Dholera.

Meanwhile, the states are coming up to liberalise their labour laws to give momentum to a standstill economy. Many states have permitted extra working hours, that is, from 8 hours per day to 12 hours per day, to increase the pace of production as the factories start to work after a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.