Industry Urges Punjab Government to Declare Predominantly Industrial Areas as Industrial Zones, as September Deadline NearsTNNLudhiana: With the deadline for industries operating in mixed land use areas (MLUs) drawing closer with just about a week left before Sept begins, the month when the deadline for extension of MLU status for the industry on Gill Road and adjoining areas, the Ludhiana industry has sought a permanent solution to the conundrum.Industry bodies have been demanding a solution and have urged the government to give a permanent solution instead of just another extension.Members of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) urged the Punjab govt to take a permanent policy decision and declare predominantly industrial pockets of the city as industrial zones.It has written to chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann seeking a review of the Ludhiana Master Plan and proposed that areas where 80% or more of the land was already occupied by functional industrial units be officially recognised as industrial zones.The issue has been a long-standing demand of several industrial bodies and the industry has repeatedly sought a permanent solution instead of periodic extensions.The CICU members said industrial pockets such as Janta Nagar, Shimlapuri and New Shimlapuri had been predominantly industrial for decades, with more than 50,000 small industrial units operating across these clusters. CICU president Upkar Singh Ahuja said industry could not plan its future on repeated temporary extensions. “If an area is already predominantly industrial on the ground, the Master Plan should recognise this reality. We need a permanent solution that gives entrepreneurs confidence to invest, modernise and grow,” he said.Thousands of MSMEs had invested capital, created employment and built their businesses in these areas over decades, CICU general secretary Honey Sethi said.Relief for the industry was announced by the Punjab government in Sep 2023, when CM Bhagwant Mann gave industrial units a three-year exemption from shifting out of residential or mixed-use areas and said a committee would decide the status of such localities. That period is now due to end in September 2026.The CICU has requested that no coercive action for shifting should be initiated pending a comprehensive policy review and that the existing timeline be suitably extended. It has proposed that around 72 predominantly industrial areas be assessed on the basis of actual land use and eligible areas incorporated as industrial zones in the Master Plan.Members of the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organizations (FICO) had argued that long-established industrial clusters should be regularized as industrial zones, while any compulsory relocation should be backed by a viable rehabilitation and migration policy.FICO had earlier urged the government to regularise existing mixed land use (MLU) clusters and declare them industrial areas.With several industry associations now pressing for a final policy decision, the issue has once again emerged as a major concern for Ludhiana’s MSME sector. Industry representatives say a permanent solution would provide certainty to entrepreneurs, safeguard employment and help sustain the supply chains that support the city’s bicycle, sewing machine and other manufacturing sectors.The CICU members said the government should use the upcoming Master Plan review to align official land-use classifications with the reality on the ground and convert what it described as a decades-old uncertainty into a permanent policy solution.
