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Published: Mar 31, 2023
Updated: Mar 31, 2023
One of India’s most prominent industrial zones, the 28-km-long Thane-Belapur Industrial Belt is facing a midlife crisis on account of crumbling infrastructure and official apathy, exacerbated by Green activism and fears of a negative impact of Western recession on the Indian economy.
From its high noon of 3,000 industrial units and a total annual turnover of around Rs 50,000 crore, the corresponding numbers in the zone are now 1,800 units and an annual turnover of less than Rs 10,000 crore. Adding to the zone’s problems, the surge in Mumbai land values and building permissions by the government have meant that more and more residential buildings are coming up dangerously close to the industrial area.
In fact, industry stalwart Bipin Shah, President of the Thane Belapur Industries Association (TBIA), has even voiced fears of a replay of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. But TBIA is not ready to throw in the towel, and is working tirelessly to revive the zone as one of the country’s major growth engines while stressing the need for environmentally-conscious entrepreneurship among its members.
After over half a century of existence, in the process emerging as the largest industrial complex not only in India but in the whole of Asia, the 28-km-long Thane-Belapur Industrial Belt is facing new headwinds on account of crumbling infrastructure, official indifference, mounting environmental concerns at home and fears of recession in the US and European economies having a negative impact on the Indian economy. In its hey day, the complex — with over 3,000 industrial units set up at a total investment of around Rs 20,000 crore and logging an annual turnover of up to Rs 50,000 crore — was humming with activity. But times have changed and the number of operative industrial units has come down to 1,900 with an annual turnover of less than Rs 15,000 crore.
At the same time, unfortunately, in view of the tremendous surge in land prices in the Mumbai region, residential buildings have started coming up in a very big way in the area. And as this is happening with the permission of the government, the situation is becoming all the more serious and the steep rise in residential buildings near the industrial complex has led to major environmental concerns. Laments Bipin Shah President of the Thane Belapur Industries Association (TBIA), “I don’t understand how and why the people have forgotten the Bhopal gas tragedy so fast!”
However, TBIA, which manages the industrial belt, though disappointed at the environmental deterioration, is not disheartened and is not ready to throw in the towel. The association, comprising businessmen who have been associated with the complex for decades, is straining every nerve to revive and rebuild the reputation of the industrial zone as a major growth engine for the economy and a job creator for the state of Maharashtra and even the rest of the country.
Established on August 15, 1978, TBIA takes a deep interest in the growth and development of the industrial belt on healthy lines. The managing committee interacts with various government and semi-government bodies to promote industry viewpoints as its vision is to provide comprehensive services to member-industries, in the process boosting the economy through industrial growth and generating employment in the region.
Maintains GS Bora, Secretary of TBIA, “We, the managing committee, work as a cohesive team with the unified, fearless voice of our member-industries. We drive change through ethics, candid communication, and harmonizing internally with members and externally with various agencies.”
Points out Bipin Shah, TBIA President, “If there are any industrial relations problems, we call the owner of the company and the leader of the trade union and help settle the matter there and then. Little wonder, there has been remarkable industrial peace in the complex.”
For smooth functioning of the complex and the companies operating inside, TBIA has coordinated with CIDCO to start a railway line in Navi Mumbai, STD calls from Navi Mumbai to Mumbai have been transformed into local calls, introduced an NMMS bus service connecting Navi Mumbai to Mumbai and Thane, established fire and emergency response stations at Pawane, and set up a weather observatory – the first of its kind in the country – in association with IMD, Government of India.
Seeing the efforts of TBIA, old-timers who have been operating in the belt for several decades are confident that everything is not lost and if such efforts are continued, paradise can be regained. TBIA is not alone in its endeavours, as there is widespread public appreciation of the belt’s invaluable contribution to the industrial growth of Maharashtra and the country as a whole, as well as of the vast number of jobs that have been created by the industrial complex. Optimists are therefore not far off the mark in hoping that this marvelous industrial belt will be restored to its former glory one day.
The genesis of the industrial complex — which is also known as Trans-Thane Creek Region – is quite interesting. It was the beginning of the sixties when people as well as authorities became aware of the perils of pollution and the importance of environmental protection. As the chemicals industry is a major polluting industry, the Maharashtra government decided to create a separate zone for it far from Mumbai and shift all chemicals companies there so that no harm came to the public.
The industries department of the Maharashtra government, along with related organisations, started the search for an area where a chemicals zone could be set up. After examining various areas, they hit upon the Thane Belapur industrial belt which was quite far from the residential areas of Mumbai. Having selected the 28-km Thane Belapur tract, the government laid down a road from north to south – from Thane to Belapur — and earmarked the eastern side of the road up to the hills for all chemicals factories while deciding to keep all residences on the western side right up to the creek. Thus, for almost eight to ten months in a year, it was virtually ensured that air-borne pollutants would not be carried into the residential areas and certainly not into Mumbai/Thane cities.
Having decided the location, the Maharashtra government, in pursuance of its policy to decongest Mumbai, started persuading chemicals companies to put up their new units in the Thane Belapur belt besides shifting their existing units to this location. Interestingly, the Indian affiliate of multinational giant ICI (India) set up the first plant in the area, followed by Mafatlal group companies like NOCIL, PIL and Standard Alkali. Bharat Bijlee, Siemens, Indian Aluminium, Mukand and NMM were among the first to set up their units in the extreme north end of the belt.
Various studies during the period 1960-1965 showed that the TB belt had several advantages over other locations in setting up petrochemical complexes.
Realising that a number of chemicals companies had come up and many more were on the way, and the 28-km stretch in the Thane Belapur area was being transformed into a modern industrial complex, that too mainly by the highly polluting chemicals industry, and keeping the safe growth of the area in mind, a dozen like-minded industrialists who had set up shop in the belt met on the 31st Independence Day under the chairmanship of MD Dhamankar, Managing Director of HICO Products. Present in the meeting were RM Kedia of Kedia Chemicals, MP Patel of Gaurav Chemicals, MK Kothari of Jaychem Dyestuff, BA Agarwal of Amines and Plasticizers, RN Fotedar of New Reshma Dyeing and Sanjay Shah of Star Chemicals, among others.
The major objectives of the association were clear – developing the TTC industrial complex as an ideal industrial complex, ensuring balanced growth of the area with proper infrastructure facilities, working for favourable conditions for the growth of the industries in the belt, striving for good industrial relations, and, not least, working towards inculcating safety consciousness among members and spreading the message of a voluntary safety audit with the active participation of all members.
Points out Mr. Bipin Shah with justifiable pride, “Please note, this forward-looking safety audit model was in vogue in this belt even before the disastrous Bhopal gas tragedy played havoc in Madhya Pradesh and rocked the country.”
What is more, after the Bhopal tragedy TBIA went a step ahead and took it upon itself to update the industries’ pollution monitoring technology and it is to the credit of TBIA that during the last 40 per years, no major accidents have taken place and no significant emergency has occurred. “This speaks volumes about the imaginative planning and sincere efforts of the association in protecting and furthering the interests of its belt as well as its members,” maintains RM Kedia, Vice-President, TBIA.
The story of the last four decades of the Thane Belapur industrial belt is a fascinating one. Reminisces V Ramadurai, a past President of TBIA, “It is very interesting to know how the Trans Thane Creek area took shape, how it grew in the face of so many odds, how it has become the largest chemicals industrial belt in the country, how a variety of chemical products are being manufactured in this belt, from petrochemicals to polyester fibres, life-saving drugs to pharmaceuticals, rubber chemicals to leather chemicals, polystyrene foam to phenol and phthalic anhydride, caustic soda and chlorine to dyes, pigments and dye intermediates, a wide range of petroleum additives, chemicals used for batteries, as well as steel and aluminium foil, lifts, electric motors, transformers, bulbs, fluorescent tubes, precision nuts and bolts, food and beverages, electric gadgets and TVs, how the belt’s turnover shot up to Rs 25,000 crore before coming down to stabilise around Rs 10,000 crore and how exports accounted for about 15 per cent of that.”
With a view to arresting the increase in liquid effluents generated by the large number of manufacturing units, TBIA took an imaginative and effective step by setting up a Common Effluents Treatment Plant (CETP). Interestingly, even as the World Bank is still promoting CETPs under its pollution prevention programme as a viable solution to control industrial pollution, TBIA had set up the CETP in 1994 which is doing an excellent job and has been praised by one and all. In fact, it has been adjudged as one of the best plants in effluent treatment in the country. Says Bipin Shah, “Our members are making the best efforts in this treatment as well as flue gas emissions to meet the standards laid down by the authorities. The association is also a catalyst in developing a dialogue between industries and the government to overcome difficulties and achieve the ultimate goal of ensuring a clean environment.”
According to TBIA Vice-President MR Kedia, “Sometime around 1990, the Garg committee headed by Dr Garg, a renowned scientist from BARC, was appointed by the Maharashtra government to carry out an extensive survey of the status of pollution in the Thane Belapur Industrial Area. According to the Garg committee report, the TTC industrial area was declared one of the most polluted of its kind. TBIA took up the challenge to reverse this negative perception about our industrial area. Several meetings were held with member-industries to find ways and means to improve the environment. Also, meetings were held with Dr Garg and MPCB officials. Seminars and workshops were conducted to create awareness about the environment. Large, medium and small-scale units wholeheartedly participated in these programmes.”
He adds, “Within a short period of 6-12 months, the perception about our industrial area changed to positive. Praise was received from MPCB, Dr Garg and others concerned about the environment.”
Pointing out that TBIA strongly supports the concept of corporate social responsibility, Mr Shah says, “In order to support the Prime Minister’s Swachchta Abhiyan, we have undertaken an ambitious programme to set up toilets in the belt in a big way, and our members have contributed funds liberally for the programme so as to spread the message of cleanliness in the belt. Likewise, in order to improve the environment and add greenery in the belt, we regularly undertake plantation of trees every year. By now, almost 1.2 million trees have been planted in the belt and the exercise continues.”
He adds, “Of course, the growing opposition of environmentalists, which in turn can be attributed to the speedy growth of residential complexes, that too in a chemicals zone, government apathy to this rampant construction activity, step-motherly treatment by the authorities, the increasing burden of taxation and the economic slowdown have slowed the pace of growth of the industrial belt, with the turnover moving down from Rs 25,000 crore a few decades ago to around Rs. 10,000 crore now.”
But despite these woes, TBIA has not thrown in the towel. Well aware of the innate economic clout of the belt and the inclination of the government to encourage growth of the chemicals industry in the area, the association remains actively involved in extending all help to units in the belt. TBIA is in fact all set to launch a drive to enroll all units in the belt -- large, medium and small -- as its members.
Asserts an ever-optimistic Bipin Shah, “The Thane Belapur industrial belt is the largest and the best chemicals industrial zone in the country and we will continue to strive to maintain its standing in the days to come.”
Everyone wants clean air, pure water, and green & clean surroundings. But there are very few who are willing to do something about it. TBIA since its inception is one of those that has been committed to working towards environment protection.
Sometime around 1990, the Garg committee headed by Dr Garg was appointed by the Maharashtra government to carry out an extensive survey of the status of pollution in the Thane Belapur Industrial Area. Dr Garg was a renowned scientist from BARC and a well-known environmentalist. He was associated with MPCB, CPCB and MOEF for a long time. According to the Garg committee report, the TTC industrial area was declared one of the most polluted of its kind.
TBIA took up the challenge to reverse this negative perception about our industrial area. Several meetings were held with member-industries to find ways and means to improve the environment. Also, meetings were held with Dr Garg and MPCB officials. Seminars and workshops were conducted to create awareness about the environment. Large, medium and SSI units wholeheartedly participated in these programmes.
Within a short period of 6-12 months, the perception about our industrial area changed to positive. Praise was received from MPCB, Dr Garg and others concerned about the environment. The objective of narrating this story is merely to highlight the fact that TBIA has always been concerned about protecting the environment.
Moving ahead, with time TBIA installed and commissioned a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) in our industrial area in 1997. TBIA was the first to commission a CETP in Maharashtra. There were doubts in the minds of some of us about the success of the CETP. All those doubts vanished after the successful commissioning of the CETP. Today our CETP is considered one of the best operational CETPs in Maharashtra. CPCB, MPCB and MOEF officials make it a point to visit our CETP whenever they are in this area. Our CETP has also received the ‘Vasundhara Green Award’ from MPCB twice in the past.
The effluent handling capacity of our CETP is 27 million litres per day. The COD/BOD parameters of the treated effluent are well within the parameters prescribed by MPCB. The membership of our CETP is more than 3,500. The CETP is yet another shining success story of TBIA towards environment protection.
(Post Script: This article has been written based on my memory and my association with TBIA for three decades. Any error/omission is sincerely regretted.)
The Thane Belapur Industries Association (TBIA) was established on August 15, 1978 and since then has been working towards the betterment and upliftment of its member-industries and society at large. TBIA is a renowned and pioneer association in Maharashtra, established to resolve the problems of member-industries related to government, semi- government and local authority bodies by setting up of common projects and by interacting through various activities.
Post the Bhopal disaster in December 1984, the need for safety officers in industries became stringent as per the statute. As there was a scarcity of competent safety professionals, a need was felt to educate industrial personnel.
TBIA took up the challenge and entered the field of professional courses and launched the Thane Belapur Industries Association Institute. Before this, the Central Labour Institute, Sion, and Institute of Industrial Professional Safety, Borivali, were the only two Institutes offering a diploma safety course in Maharashtra.
TBIA was supported by industries like NOCIL, Siemens, APAR Industries, Savita Oil Technologies Ltd, BASF Ltd and Lubrizol, and sponsored students for diploma courses in health and safety.
TBIA as the flag-bearer of industrial technical education started with a single course of advanced industrial safety with a capacity of 60 students in 1986. Today, TBIA offers courses in 5 different domains -- Diploma in Fire Safety Engineering of 1 year and 2 years, Advanced Diploma in Fire Safety, and Advanced Diploma in Environmental Engineering. Looking at the need of the hour from industries, the TBIA technical training institute now has 270 students on its rolls with an academic record of an average 85% success rate. Keeping with the changing times and industrial demand, TBIA introduced the Advanced Diploma in Environmental Engineering in 2021.
It is a matter of pride that all these courses are affiliated to the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education and are recognized by the Directorate of Technical Education, Govt of Maharashtra.
The students taking up the diploma courses have technical skills in industry. The faculty have rich industrial experience and help the students in enriching not only their theoretical skills but also gaining practical knowledge.
It is an achievement and a known fact that about 4,500 students are alumni of this institute and are placed in the middleto-top management of medium and large-scale organisations, with a few of them holding top positions abroad.
Thane Belapur Industries Association during the last four decades was instrumental in starting pilot projects by setting up CETP, TTCWMA & F&ERS. TBIA on a regular basis conducts seminars and workshops and updates its members on the latest systems and procedures with relevant topics like Industrial Safety, Fire Safety, ISO, Engineering, Automation and Taxation for their shop floor workers, supervisors and managerial categories.
This activity makes TBIA unique among industry associations as it has a holistic approach to the betterment of industry.
In addition to the various technical courses, TBIA also has undertaken the following role and responsibilities.
CEPI meetings were held periodically under the chairmanship of the MemberSecretary, MPCB. These meetings were convened by MPCB and attended by representatives of various stakeholders.
TBIA is member of NCAP and one of the stakeholders. TBIA plays an active role in the industrial belt to create awareness and promote initiatives to reduce air pollution.
TBIA is one of the stakeholders of the MPCB Committee, the expert team for planning and utilization of funds on Environmental Compensation as per the NGT’s orders.
On account of constant follow-up and initiatives taken by TBIA, we are witnessing a major infrastructure improvement in the TTC area.
TBIA members from chemical Industries volunteered for the “Energy and Resource Mapping of MSME Clusters in India” project in Jan-Feb 2021, initiated by TERI.
TBIA is committed to enhancing the skills and knowledge of employees of the TTC area in energy conservation, safety, health and environment.
It updates industries on the latest technology by conducting regular webinars in association with environmentalists and PCRA and other associates.
It imparts training on the latest amendments in industrial/labour laws.
The biggest challenge that TBIA has accepted is to create a general awareness amongst its members and work together towards sustainability.
TBIA managing committee members are determined and committed to working together in the interest of industrial growth and making TBIA the best in the field of industrial areas in India.
February 15, 2025 - First Issue
Industry Review
VOL XVI - 10
February 01-15, 2025
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