Chandigarh, July 7: A delegation of rice exporters, millers, and industrial operators met with Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to demand a one-year delay on strict new air quality standards mandated for the National Capital Region. The industry is resisting a recent policy change by the Commission for Air Quality Management and allied state and central pollution monitoring boards, which slashes the allowable particulate matter emission cap for biomass boilers from 80 milligrams per normal cubic meter down to 50 milligrams per normal cubic meter.
Business owners stated that complying with the modified environmental targets requires rapid, capital-intensive upgrades that many units cannot afford in the current economic climate. To prevent widespread disruption, the trade groups suggested that authorities treat the new 50-milligram standard as a flexible annual average, allowing operational spikes to touch the previous 80-milligram limit without legal penalties.
The specialized monitoring process itself has become a point of contention for compliant factories. Association leaders declared that requiring external third-party verification is redundant and unnecessary for plants that already transmit automated, continuous emissions data directly to state servers through real-time online monitoring systems.
The regional classification of production zones was another key topic brought before the Union Minister. Haryana Rice Exporters Association President Sushil Jain stated that because Karnal sits more than 100 kilometers away from the national capital, it should retain its Category-III status to shield local mills from hyper-local Delhi regulations. Jain also asserted that current industrial regularization frameworks are poorly structured, explaining that a clause requiring 50 units within 10 acres excludes isolated rice mills that need independent regularisation.
The ministerial interaction also brought to light a separate logistical crisis threatening the regional supply chain. Rice millers clarified that they are currently unable to complete their official custom-milled rice handovers due to an absolute lack of physical space at the local Food Corporation of India depot.
Karnal Rice Millers and Dealers Association President Saurabh Gupta affirmed that the central storage hubs are entirely choked. Gupta maintained that a combination of lingering wheat inventories and the controversial decision to route rice allocations from outside districts into Karnal has left local millers with nowhere to store their processed grains. According to representatives, Minister Khattar has promised that these operational bottlenecks and regulatory worries will be formally evaluated with the respective departments.
