The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has welcomed the decision to lift the ban on the textile units in Rajasthan, calling it “a Diwali Bonanza” for the ailing industry.

Last year, in the month of May, the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Circuit Bench of Jodhpur had ordered the closure of 739 textile units located in Balotra and the nearby areas of Jasol and Bithuja in Rajasthan for failing to comply with the norms specified by the Pollution Control Board (PCB).

The tribunal had laid down conditions including installation of primary waste treatment plant, connecting all the dyeing units to the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), payment of security deposit ranging from Rs.2 lakhs to Rs.5 lakhs per unit, fixing of metre in the borewell, and disposing of the sledge in specified areas.

In its order dated November 4, the tribunal had directed the Rajasthan Pollution Control Board to renew the licenses only after the conditions are met with.

SIMA chairman, M. Senthilkumar said in a statement that most of the dyeing units have already complied with the regulations and are all set to reopen the units. The closure of the dyeing units was taking a toll on the weaving clusters in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Fabric stocks were piling up.

Now that export of yarn was picking up, the reopening of the dyeing units couldn’t have come at a better time, he said. He expressed hope that the textile industry would revive after Diwali.