Textile units operating out of Perundurai SIPCOT Industrial Growth Centre bewailing over losing out on competitiveness in pricing of products due to enormous expenditure involved in complying with the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZID) norms. Of the nearly 50 textile processing units in the SIPCOT complex, about 15 industries closed down operations over the last four years after incurring losses.

An equal number among the existing units find themselves in a similar predicament, as retaining customer base in export market is pretty difficult due to disadvantageous pricing, S. Selvaraj, joint secretary, Perundurai SIPCOT Textiles Processors Association (PSTPA), said.

While on the one hand Tamil Nadu has pioneered implementation of Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system for industrial units generating harmful effluents,

Mr. Selvaraj said that they lose out as the units that do not comply with ZLD norms are able to sell their products for Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 lesser per kg in the export market. It is difficult to survive in the absence of a level-playing field. The units exiting from SIPCOT are moving to other States where the norms are not so stern.

Industrial units in SIPCOT are now in the process of raising the height of the solar evaporators from the ground level by a few feet. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had directed the units to do so to rule out mixing of hazardous waste in the form of the end-salt with soil.

The State Government has offered to establish Common Effluent Treatment Plants by announcing a Rs. 700 crore package for the dyeing and bleaching units elsewhere in Erode and neighbouring districts that have been releasing their untreated effluent into water bodies.

The Tamil Nadu Water Investment Corporation that would be implementing the Rs. 700 crore project for CETPs is learnt to have given consent to visit SIPCOT next week to study scope for investing in a common facility for Reject Management benefitting the existing 35 textile units.

The PSTPA has urged the State Government to enforce uniform compliance by all dyeing and bleaching industries. The PSTPA has also emphasised in its appeal to the Government, there must also be power concession for running the biological treatment system that needs to be operated round-the-clock. Likewise, subsidies given to CETPs must be also extended to individual ETPs.