The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) on Thursday announced the withdrawal of its proceedings categorising the coir industry under ‘Orange’ category.
The industry was in November 2021 reclassified from white to orange, which meant that it was shifted to the category of polluting industries and approval had to be obtained from the TNPCB for setting up these units. Further, the industry’s operations were also to be monitored periodically.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) norm, industries are classified as red (high pollution), orange and green (moderate pollution) and white (no pollution) categories based on their pollution levels. With the latest announcement, the coconut husk retting, de-fibreing, and pith processing industry will remain in the White category.
“Meanwhile, various associations of Coir Exporters and Manufacturers submitted an enormous number of representations to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board requesting to protect the coir sector and their livelihood by withdrawing the Board’s proceedings,” the release said.
The withdrawal was done considering that the coir industry sector is one of the important agro-based cottage type industries in the State of Tamil Nadu contributing significantly for creation of livelihood in major coconut growing districts and to encourage the cottage type MSME sector for the production of eco-friendly products, the release added.
The move comes against the backdrop of widespread representations from coir manufacturers.
Notably, the CPCB released a draft notification in July 2023 regarding the classification of industries, wherein the manufacturing of coir (wet/dyeing process) is classified under the orange category, manufacturing of coir (dry process) is classified under green category and manufacturing of coir items is classified under white category. The notification is yet to be made.