Salt makers threaten to disrupt supply

Rajkot: Gujarat meets 76% of India’s salt demand, but nearly 70% production is being done on land that is technically illegal.
Salt manufacturers say it has been four years now since the government took a decision to renew the lease of farms but the process is still pending. Due to non-renewal of the leases, the salt manufacturers cannot get a bank loan, upgrade their electricity connections and carry out any other legal work.
Now, they have threatened to stop production or disrupt the supply of salt across India.
Indian Salt Manufacturers Association (ISMA) said the lease holders range from salt pan workers to medium and small-scale units who have land ranging from 10 acres to 1,000 acres.
After an agitation in 2018, the government had promised to renew the lease for 30 years instead of 10 years. A new government resolution was issued and the salt makers were asked to get five no objection certificates for renewal . Bachhu Ahir, president of Kutch Small-Scale Salt Manufacturers Association said, “It’s difficult to provide all the NOCs. In some cases, NOC from BSF is also required. Some of them have got all these NOCs but the applications for renewal are pending.”
The manufacturers want the government to either renew the lease or reject it by stating reasons so that they can challenge the grounds of rejection in the upper forum. Around 550 lease applications have been pending for two years to 15 years, ISMA said.
Shamji Kangad, vice-president of ISMA, said, “No reasons are being cited for non-renewal. We are only told that the decision will be taken by the higher authority. We are now mulling to stop production or disrupt supply.”
The manufacturers also contend that local taxes are different in all the districts as a result of which the rent per acre in every where is different. They have also demanded a uniform lease rent in all districts.
Bharat Raval, president of ISMA said, “We have sought the appointment of chief minister for a long time but we have not been granted time. We were called on Tuesday and the CM was supposed to meet us after the cabinet meeting but somehow he was busy.”