OSPCB to raise consent fee for industries

The Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) plans to raise the fee for giving consent to industries to establish their units in the state.

The one-time fee is proposed to be hiked under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

The board of the OSPCB discussed the proposal and decided to constitute a committee under the chairmanship of the steel and mines secretary, Ashok Dalwai to examine the matter.

Though the order giving consent to establish industries remains valid for 5 years, the concerned industry will be required to pay the consent fee again after the lapse of 5 years, if the construction work does not commence by the stipulated time, to reactivate the proposed project. It also proposes to convert this one-time fee into an annual fee. However, the final decision will be taken after the committee submits its report.

Sources said, industries and hotels investing up to Rs 60 lakh will be required to pay Rs Rs 1000 (for units in the green category), Rs 3000 (orange category) and Rs 5000 (red category) respectively compared with Rs 800, Rs 2000 and Rs 3000 at present.

For units investing between Rs 60 lakh to Rs 3 crore , the consent fee is proposed to be raised to Rs 8000 for industries categorized as “orange” from Rs 6000 at present. Similarly, this fee will be increased to Rs 10,000 for “red” category units from Rs 7000 earlier. There will be no change in the fee for “green” category industry and it will remain unchanged at Rs 5000.

Units in which the investment is between Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore, there will not be any increase for “green” units and the consent fee will continue to be Rs 10,000.The “green” and “red” units are proposed to pay higher fee. While the consent fee for the “orange” units is proposed to be raised to Rs 14,000 from Rs 12,000 at present, it will be increased to Rs 20,000 for “red” units from Rs 14,000 at present.

For projects above Rs 5 crore, there will not be any change in the consent fee for units categorised as “green” and it will continue to be Rs 20,000. However, for units categorised as “orange”, this is proposed to be increased to Rs 30,000 from Rs 24,000 at present. It is proposed to be increased to Rs 40,000 from Rs 30,000 at present for units categorised as “red”. For projects with investment of more than Rs 500 crore, the proposed fee for consent will be 0.05 percent of the actual investment, sources added.

The board also approved the implementation of hazardous waste (management, handling and trans-boundary movement) rules, 2008, which will be applicable for generation, handling, collection, treatment, transport, storage, recycling, re-processing, recovery, re-use and disposal of the waste generated.

According to the new rule, authorisation for hazardous waste management will be granted for a period of 5 years instead of 2 years earlier. While the authorisation fee of Rs 7500 was collected as per the earlier rule, the revised authorisation fee structure has been proposed on the basis of investment. However, the committee headed by the steel and mines secretary will examine the proposal after which a final decision will be taken.

As per the proposal, industries and hotels investing up to Rs 60 lakh, the authorisation fee is proposed to be fixed at Rs 1500 per annum and Rs 7500 for a period of 5 years. Similarly, the units investing between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 3 crore will be required to pay Rs 2000 (1 year) and Rs 10,000 (5 years).

The units in which the investment is between Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore, the authorisation fee is proposed to be Rs 2500 (1 year) and Rs 12,500 (5 years). Besides, the units in which investment is between Rs 5 to Rs 10 crore, the authorisation fee is proposed to be Rs 3000 (1 year) and Rs 15,000 (for 5 years).