Sops To Check Pollution

The environment and forests ministry plans to offer fresh incentives to industrial units excelling in pollution control. The details of the scheme are to be worked out in consultation with the National Institute of Public Finance, the National Chambers of Commerce and Industry, important non-government organisations and other concerned bodies.

Under the new scheme, fiscal benefits are proposed to be given to units performing better than what is required under the norms laid down by the government in all areas of pollution control, including effluents treatment and discharge.

The scheme is open to individual entrepreneurs too.

According to government sources, environment minister Suresh P Prabhu, who has already asked the officials to work on the scheme, is of the view that offering substantial fiscal sops to industrial units for performing better along with enforcement of legislative measures would help realise the objective of pollution control sooner.

The scheme will be of an innovative nature, substantially different from the existing incentives which include: Relief in custom and excise duty on import/manufacture of equipment to check ozone layer depletion; sops for setting up common effluent treatment plants in clusters; incentive for trade in environmental services and technological programmes; sop for obtaining ISO certification on environment management systems.