Adding to the woes of unemployment, about 25 lakh people in the National Capital Region have been rendered jobless recently. Thanks to the ban on the use of petroleum coke (petcoke) and furnace oil which came into force on November 1, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). The move comes against the backdrop environmental concerns, as the menacing smog returned to the capital as temperature dropped a little bit.
The industry body has been pressing for adequate notice time for the industrial consumers to migrate from furnace oil and petcoke to gas-based fuel, so that they are able to hold on to their livelihoods.
The employment among MSMEs had shrunk after the demonetisation and with the untuned implementation of GST. ASSOCHAM estimates that about 1000 units directly and ten times as many allied units, which include small, medium and large units, have been affected by the recent ban. These units include textiles, rubber, sugar, steel, paper, packing, forging and agro-based industries.
The impact of the ban is expected to have a cascading effect, as the closure of textile processing factories may force the supply of fabric to the exporters to discontinue, resulting in cessation of the trade from this region.
Similarly, sugar, paper, rubber and agro-based industries will not be able to sustain their business because of sharp increase in cost of fuel, as a result of ban on use of petcoke & furnace oil.
According to ASSOCHAM, there are no clear guidelines regarding the emission of pollutants such as SO2 and Nitrogen Oxide (NOx). Earlier, the Supreme Court of India had directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to formulate the norms for emission standards of SO2 and NOx for the industry by 30th June, 2017.
Meanwhile the affected parties are lobbying to put forth that the emissions by industries are not causing pollution in the NCR. According to the industry chamber, “Petcoke is being labelled as a polluting fuel because of higher sulphur content and it is alleged that it emits SO2, which pollutes the environment. Other than SO2 levels, PM10 and PM2.5 levels emitted by the use of petcoke, are well within the prescribed limits. As per EPCA (Environment Pollution Control Authority) the industrial contribution of PM10 and PM2.5, the main polluting particles, is only 11 per cent whereas the major contributors are road dust (38 per cent), vehicular pollution (20 per cent), domestic source (12 per cent) and others.”
It is imperative that adequate time be given to the industries to alter their processes to meet the new norms laid down by the ministry. Therefore, the ban needs to be lifted to save the industry as well as to prevent lakhs of workers being rendered jobless, said the industry chamber.
The only alternative to furnace oil and petcoke is natural gas which is nearly four times more expensive. According to ASSOCHAM, the industry is committed to maintain a cleaner and pollution free environment. The units are in the process of procuring and commissioning the wet scrubbers and other pollution control technologies to bring down the emission levels of SO2 within the norms prescribed by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and ministry of environment.
