ZLD norms put Tiruppur, Karur textile units at disadvantage

Exporters in Tiruppur and Karur in India’s Tamil Nadu have started feeling that they are at a disadvantage due to the zero liquid discharge (ZLD) norms stipulated by the state government. ZLD norms were introduced in Tamil Nadu in 2005. In other countries, only ‘treated discharge’ is mandatory, said Indian Texpreneurs’ Federation secretary Prabhu Damodharan.

If the ZLD norms are imposed in clusters like Tiruppur, which has no perennial river, or Karur, where the Cauvery river is practically dry, then it should be imposed across all textile clusters in the country, Damodaran told a recent panel discussion in Coimbatore on ‘Is India’s cotton textile losing its competitiveness?’ organised by business daily BusinessLine recently.

Pressured by Green Peace, China was forced to say in 2010 that it would not discharge harmful chemicals by 2020, though the targets are way off from those units in Tiruppur for 2020, a report in the newspaper quoted S Dhananjayan, senior auditor and advisor to Tirupur Exporters’ Association, as saying.

China would continue to discharge, but ensure that it is not harmful, he said.

The norms have pushed the cost for the units located in both the places by 15 per cent relative to China and resulted in huge price disparity with garments manufactured in Bangladesh or Vietnam, according to experts.

Buyers do not pay a penny more for all these efforts, Dhananjayan added.