Delhi smog: From Dabur to Coke, NGT order hits manufacturing plants in NCR

Manufacturing operations in certain industries of the national capital region have been suspended after the National Green Tribunal passed an order on Thursday to curb the pollution levels in the region. 

Consumer good majors like Dabur, Coca-Cola and Perfetti Van Melle have suspended operations in their plants in the Delhi-NCR region.

FMCG major Dabur has halted production in its plant at Sahibabad in Ghaziabad region (UP), at the outskirts of Delhi. The plant is used to produce ayurvedic medicines and medicated oils. Currently, it is sourcing from other plants that are located in Baddi and Tezpur, which also manufactures ayurvedic medicines. Even though the plant at Sahibabad was not emitting pollutants, the company said it took suo motto action in the direction of addressing the air quality issue.

Confectionary maker Perfetti too has suspended production at its plant in Manesar. It has three more plants in India – one each in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal – and is currently matching supply from these units. Beverages maker Coca-Cola, which has four plants in the NCR region, has taken pre-emptive steps too. While one of these plants is directly operated by Coke, the remaining three are franchise owned. However, being a lean season, a cut in operations for a shorter period of five days will not have any impact on their supply level.

NCR happens to be a large automobile hub. However, production activity at plants of Maruti Suzuki (Gurgaon and Manesar) and Honda Cars (Greater Noida) are continuing uninterrupted. Hero MotoCorp, the largest two-wheeler maker, however, has faced some disruption in the supply of inputs due to restrictions on the entry of trucks in Gurgaon.  The company said the plant is fully compliant with all regulatory requirements related to emission.