Haryana gears up to start manufacturing operations from Monday

Industries and commerce additional chief secretary TVSN Prasad said they would come up with the state implementation guidelines for resumption of manufacturing operations on Saturday

Financially starved due to a sharp revenue dip amid the lockdown, the Haryana government on Friday inched closer to resuming commercial and manufacturing activity in the state from April 20, the Centre-designated day to operationalise the enterprise.

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The industries and commerce department and labour department held consultations with the industry representatives on resuming manufacturing operations on Friday evening.

Industries and commerce additional chief secretary TVSN Prasad said they would come up with the state implementation guidelines for resumption of manufacturing operations on Saturday.

“We have constituted district and block level committees to process approvals and monitor containment requirements including social distancing,”’ Prasad said. These committees will evaluate which factories or industries can be permitted to carry out operations.

As per the central government’s guidelines, industrial activities cannot be permitted in the containment zones of hotspots.

Chief minister M L Khattar on Friday said the state government was planning to resume manufacturing activity in the hotspots of Gurgaon and Faridabad also. There are nine containment zones in Gurugram and 13 in Faridabad where no industrial or commercial activity can be started presently.

“However, we do have scope of resuming operations in other areas within the hotspots. Also, a large number of industrial estates of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) are outside the municipal limits and qualify for resumption of operations,” said a top official.

4,000 TRANSIT PERMITS ISSUED TO FIRMS

Chief secretary Keshni Anand Arora told HT that for facilitating smooth movement of goods and supplies, the state government has issued around 4,000 transit permits to more than 120 companies in the last 48 hours. Prominent among them are Dabur, Procter and Gamble, Lenskart, Shopclues and Amazon.

The chief secretary said that movement of over 2,000 trucks carrying medicines and groceries have been facilitated through these permits. Some of the companies sought less than three transit permits while bigger businesses like Amazon sought 400 permits. These measures are aimed at restoring the supply chain and manufacturing activity in the coming days,” she said.

The transit permits were issued using COPASS software, a trust-based application where a designated authority of the company is allowed to generate bulk passes for company employees without burdening the district administration.

While truck operators like Rivigo have been provided permits for 100% of its workforce, pharmaceutical and research organisations were allocated 35-40% quota of their employees. Since the Union government has identified pharmaceutical research and development organisations as essential services, the state government has allowed transit permit to Gurugram-based Sun Pharma.

Industries and commerce department officials said that they have initiated the process to seek an undertaking from the manufacturers and service providers that they will comply with the conditions imposed by the central government for resuming operations. These included adhering to standard operating protocols, making arrangements for stay of workers within premises or adjacent buildings and arranging transportation of workers in dedicated transport by ensuring social distancing, officials said.

Which industries are allowed?

Industries in rural areas outside municipal limits manufacturing units with access control.

Food processing industries in rural areas.

Production units requiring continuous process and industrial estates and townships.