Gujarat Needs to Fine-Tune Its Effluent Policy

Due to the indecision of the central and state governments, neither the state's newly established factories nor its existing Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) are clear which method to follow for the disposal of polluted water. 

In many cities like Ahmedabad, Ankleshwar, Vapi, Dahej and Jetpur, CETPs are managed by local industry associations. Over the last three years, both industries and CETPs had shifted towards the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) method.

Some time ago, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) issued a draft notification, ordering industries across the country to shift to the ZLD method. Meanwhile, the Gujarat government is now about to introduce a new method — Deep Sea Discharge (DSD) — in Ahmedabad.

With some big CETP operators already in the process of setting up new Zero Liquid Discharge plants, the dichotomy in policy paths has become an issue of concern for all stakeholders. 

Expectedly,it has created confusion among the manufacturers about which method to follow. The Secretariat had earlier published a detailed report on this.

Later, The Secretariat contacted stakeholders in Ahmedabad, Jetpur, Vapi, Ankleshwar, Dahej, and elsewhere to find out what they see as a way out. In response, most industrialists and CETP operators said they are ready to accept all the policies or guidelines of the government regarding wastewater disposal, as long as the government first declares a unified policy.

Overall, they had suggested three suggestions:

1. There should be a level playing field, for which the government needs to mandate a single disposal mechanism. More importantly, with DSD entering the field where several CETPs have invested in ZLD, some CETPs are getting an unfair advantage over the rest.
2. If the government is promoting multiple discharge options, then it should ensure that all of these CETPs have similar operational expenses and capital expenses for environmental mitigation measures, and should receive commensurate subsidies from the government. Currently, they said DSD, which is less problematic and incurs lower opex compared to ZLD, receives a higher subsidy.
3. Any subsidy that is given should be easily available to all industries. Right now, CETP operators claim it takes 2-3 years for subsidies to be decided and released. The operators said disbursement of subsidies should be such that by the time a project is ready, the subsidy is available to it, and can thereby benefit from the tax break.