The consent fees being charged by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for setting up new industries and operating them has been raised with immediate effect.

Sources in the MPCB today said the Government feels that industries in the State are growing at a fast pace leading to various issues such as air, water, and noise and other kinds of pollution. To monitor this there was a dire need for stringent control and hence the revision in the fees.

There was also an increased expense on manpower and equipment need for monitoring these growing industries, sources said.

Periodical inspection of industries for compliance is necessary. But it may not be possible to conduct the inspection with the fee being received, which was very meagre. Hence it has been decided to substantially increase the fees, they said.

In addition, fees for mining were based on the investment in land, building, plant and machinery. However, it has been observed this industry gives rise to lot of pollution; and hence it was decided to revise the fee structure.

The consent fees is as follows: Investment less than Rs 10 lakh (Rs 500); Rs 10-60 lakh (Rs 1,500); Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore (Rs 5,000); Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore) (Rs 15,000); Rs 5-10 crore (Rs 25,000); Rs 11-25 crore (Rs 50,000); Rs 25-50 crore (Rs 75,000); Rs 50-75 crore (Rs 1,00,000); Rs 75-100 crore (Rs 1,25,000). Above Rs 100 crore it is 0.02 per cent of the capital investment.

In addition to this the mining industry will be levied an additional 0.40 per cent per tonne a year besides the regular consent and operational fees, officials said. For the Municipal Corporations the fees are Rs 1,00,000 and for Municipal Councils' A-Grade it is Rs 50,000; B-Grade Rs 5,000 and C-Grade Rs 2,000, it was stated.

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