Gujarat offers 1,200-day labour law exemptions for new industrial investments

The state chief minister Vijay Rupani announced that his government has also decided to make the approval process for establishing new industries completely online and they will be allocated land within seven days and all necessary government approval within 15 days.

“The new industrial units will be provided with relief from all the related acts and norms for 1,200 days . However, they will be bound to follow Minimum Wages, Act, Industrial Safety Rules and The Employee Compensation Act. The CM has directed the Labour Department to create an ordinance for the same," a state government statement said.

"At present, a large number of industries and multinational from Japan, USA, Korea and other European nations are willing to shift their production from China to other countries. We have decided to coordinate with various Central ministries, including the External Affairs Ministry, and approach missions of different countries to attract such industries to Gujarat," Rupani said.

"Coming of industries here will not only strengthen the state''s industrial growth but also provide employment opportunities to people. A total of 33 thousand hectares of land is available for industrial use in Khoraj, Sanand, Dahej SEZ, Dholera SEZ and other private SEZs in Gujarat," he informed, news agency PTI reported.

"We have decided that the process of approvals for new industries that wish to establish themselves in Gujarat will be hundred per cent online. They will be allocated land within seven days and all the necessary permissions related to the same shall be provided in 15 days from their application," he added. Speaking about labour reform moves to spur economic growth in a pandemic year, he said "new industrial units will be provided with relief from all the related labour acts and norms for 1,200 days"

The statement comes a day after UP government brought in an ordinance to exempt businesses from complying with all key labour laws except three for a period of three years to boost investment and help resurrect businesses hit hard by the covid-19 pandemic. Similarly, MP government too had made sweeping amendments in major acts including Industrial Dispute Act, and Factories Act, Migrant workers and reduced the paper work for companies to help them recover faster from the Covid-19 crisis and restart their businesses.