Delhi seeks 4 yrs to relocate polluting units

The Government application, filed in the Apex Court a few days before the expiry of the deadline and expected to come up for hearing on January 12, said immediate closure of these industries would result in a loss of Rs 6,000 crore and a lot of hardship to workers8217; families.

quot;The bulk of industrial production worth Rs 6,000 crore is being generated by industries situated in residential or non-conforming areas. Therefore, the closure order will result in a loss of over Rs 4,000 crore to Delhi8217;s economy,quot; the application, filed through advocate Dhruv Mehta, said.

quot;The loss in the Capital due to closure and shifting of industries will also besubstantial. If over one lakh industries running in residential areas are required to be immediately shut down, it is estimated that the loss of industrial capital including plant and machinery will be approximately Rs 2,000 crore,quot; the Government said.

The number of direct workers employed in 1,01,000 industries operating in residential and non-conforming areas works out to be 6,78,720, it said and added, quot;Therefore, closure of these industries will result in hardship to approximately seven lakh familiesquot;.