Ludhiana: With the September 30 deadline fast approaching for industries operating in mixed land use (MLU) areas, over 50,000 small manufacturing units in Ludhiana face an existential crisis over high relocation costs and uncertain futures.The impending deadline stems from the 2008 Ludhiana Master Plan, which designated long-established industrial-residential clusters for eventual relocation by 2018. While temporary extensions kept the sector operational until 2023 and subsequently through 2026, the current three-and-a-half-year grace period is set to expire next month without a permanent regularisation or rehabilitation plan.Industrialists in key pockets like Janta Nagar, Shimlapuri, and Jammu Colony—where units operate from small 100 to 200 square yard plots—argue that their businesses existed decades before the land-use classification changed.Financial burden & infra gapsSmall entrepreneurs emphasise that relocating machinery, purchasing high-priced industrial plots, and securing new approvals are financially impossible without govt support.“There is a small unit here in every household in these areas. How can we move, unless the government provides us some land. Moreover, what is the condition of those industrial areas, and focal points. They are equally worse if not bad. The govt provide a land and good infrastructure, before issuing such orders,” said manufacturer Prem Kumar.Demands for rehabilitationAffected business owners have urged the government to provide affordable industrial land, low-interest loans, shifting assistance, and a structured transition period to prevent widespread factory closures.Gurmukh Singh Rupal, associated with FICO and general secretary of the United Sewing Machine and Parts Manufacturers Association, noted that prolonged policy instability is discouraging the younger generation from continuing family businesses. “Declaring that a piece of land is no longer meant for industry does not automatically create a new factory for a small entrepreneur,” Rupal said.“The government has to recognise the human side of the issue. These are not just plots and buildings. These are livelihoods built over generations,” Rupal added.
