After green signal to resume operations, Noida industries hamstrung by red tape

NOIDA: Getting industrial operations back in gear was supposed to be the economic push Noida needed to shake off the lockdown-induced slowdown. The city has nearly 5,000 factories and employs 6.7 lakh people. But the first week of getting industries up and running has been marked by disruptions — with rules changing thrice over the week and no clarity on the minutiae of the ones finally in place.
Industrial operations, the Union home ministry had said, would resume from May 4. But till 9pm on the day work was to start, the district administration was still working on the modalities. It was only at 4pm on May 4 that a link to apply for restarting industrial operations was shared. The guidelines came in five hours later.
When those applying complained that the OTP was difficult to generate and uploading documents was no easy task, the administration came up with a solution — email applications. Names and email IDs of six nodal officers from six government agencies were shared to open another line of application and take the pressure off the site. But that backfired — industry owners and entrepreneurs started applying on both. “At one point, 70% of the applications had been filed twice,” an official said.
Then came another missive, this time from the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh, revising the process yet again. All applicants would now have to submit a declaration form — a written undertaking that social distancing norms laid out by the state government would be followed by the unit when operations begin. So from May 6, industrialists and entrepreneurs started sending representatives and liaison officers to government offices to check in on the application — had it moved along? Social distancing was far from their minds when they queued up outside government offices, with forms and documents, asking for clarity. “For the past four days, our office has been packed,” said deputy commissioner (industries) for Gautam Budh Nagar, Anil Kumar. Most applications have come in from MSMEs. “The guidelines are available online. A specific list of industries and enterprises is out, only they are allowed to operate. But still, everyone wants permission to open,” he added.
While MSMEs may have overlooked some guidelines, those operating out of private SEZs didn’t know if they were covered until two days later. The Centre’s guidelines had allowed IT companies and EOUs to operate, but it was not before Friday (May 8) that units started getting permissions. “IT companies remain shut over the weekend. And the permission came on Friday morning. So we have decided to resume work from Monday,” said vice-president of an IT company based in a Greater Noida private SEZ.
The city has nine SEZs, six of which are in Greater Noida, where 100 IT and allied services companies operate — Wipro, NIIT, HCL and MoserBaer, among others. These companies, registered with the Union ministry of commerce and industry, had to seek permission from the development commissioner of Noida SEZ. “Most applications received last week have been approved. Only those in containment zones have not been given approval,” said development commissioner LB Singhal.
Export-oriented units (EOUs) faced another set of challenges. For approval, they had to go through multiple channels — first, the development commissioner, followed by the district industries centre in Surajpur, on to the sub-divisional magistrate and then back to the development commissioner. “After applying under the new format on May 6, we got the permission on Saturday (May 9) afternoon. However, that permission is valid only till May 11,” said the managing director of an EOU in Phase II, Noida.
The administration, however, has fixed that, on paper. “Approvals issued till May 11 have been extended to May 17,” said Singhal. The notification, however, has not been sent to EOUs yet.
A few industries and factories have fared a little better. Those registered with the UP labour department did not have to go through the bureaucratic hoops because the responsibility of checking their credentials lay with industrial development authorities — Noida Authority, GNIDA or YEIDA. About 1,400 industrial units have been approved by Noida Authority and GNIDA.