Cabinet Approval
The proposal to hike the fees was approved during a Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, presided over by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. This increase comes after a gap of 17 years, with the last revision having taken place in 2008.
Impact On Annual Costs
Industries will face the financial impact of this decision every year. Previously, after paying the initial fee, industries were required to pay only half that amount as an annual renewal fee. However, they must now pay a renewal fee equal to the initial amount every year. Additionally, permission has been granted to increase the fees by up to 10 per cent every two years.
Legislative Amendments
On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved the Uttar Pradesh Water (Consent for Discharge of Sewage and Trade Effluents) (Third Amendment) Rules and the Uttar Pradesh Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) (Fourth Amendment) Rules to modify the consent fee structure. With this decision, the fees for establishing and operating purification plants for industries, local bodies, and other units will rise.
Categorisation And Rationale
Following the amendments, different NOC fees will apply to industries based on Red, Orange, and Green classifications. Since Red category industries generate the most pollution, their fees will be the highest. Orange category industries will pay less, and Green category industries, which cause the least pollution, will pay the minimum fee. The government believes this decision will strengthen the Pollution Control Board's financial position, allowing for the expansion of manpower and technical capabilities needed for effective monitoring.
Single Slab For Large Industries
The state government has restructured the investment-based slabs, reducing them from 12 to 7. Industries with investments exceeding Rs 1,000 crore will now fall under a single slab instead of three.
Previous Rates: Earlier, industries with investments between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore paid an initial fee of Rs 2.50 lakh and a renewal fee of Rs 1.25 lakh. Those between Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore paid Rs 5 lakh initially and Rs 2.50 lakh annually. Industries above Rs 10,000 crore paid Rs 10 lakh in the first year and Rs 5 lakh thereafter.
New Rates: Merging these categories, a single bracket has been created for industries investing over Rs 1,000 crore. Under this, Green category industries will pay Rs 5 lakh, Orange industries Rs 5.75 lakh, and Red category industries will pay Rs 6.50 lakh per year.
Additionally, the four slabs for industries with investments of less than Rs 1 crore have been consolidated into a single slab.
No objection And Consent Fee For Category Wise Industries
| capital investments | Current charges | New Fee (in Rs.) | |||
| initial charge | Annual renewal fee | Green | orange | Red | |
| One thousand crore to five thousand crore | 2.50 lakh | 1.25 lakh | 5 lakh | 5.75 lakh | 6.50 lakh |
| 500 crore to 1000 crore | 1.50 lakh | 75 thousand | 1.50 lakh | 1.72 lakh | 1.95 lakh |
| 250 crore to 500 crore | 1 lakh | 50 thousand | 1 lakh | 1.15 lakh | 1.30 lakh |
| 50 crore to 250 crore | 75 thousand to one lakh | 35 thousand to 50 thousand | 75 thousand | 86 thousand | 97 thousand |
| 10 crore to 50 crore | 50 thousand | 25 thousand | 50 thousand | 58 thousand | 65 thousand |
| One crore to 10 crore | 20 thousand | 10 thousand | 20 thousand | 23 thousand | 26 thousand |
| less than one crore | up to three thousand | Up to 1500 | five thousand | 7500 | 10 thousand |
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