Year 2017 marks a turning point with respect to policy change regarding establishment of new wood based industries in India. The guidelines offer clarity on freeing up the establishments of plywood, panel and furniture units and designate the poser to SLC to take decisions as per available rules and facts. The gazette mentioned “the State Level Committee (SLC) shall assess the availability of timber in the state by way of appropriate study on demand and supply as and when it decides. SLC shall devise suitable mechanism for sustainable use of timber in a way that does not affect the forests of the area adversely.
It mentions that Industries/processing plants not using round logs of domestic origin or operating without a band saw or re-saw or circular saw of more than 30 cm diameter shall not require license” The policy change freed up Industries/processing plants which use sawn timber, cane, bamboo, reed, plywood, veneers or imported wood, procured from legitimate sources does not need a license. It clearly mentioned that ‘Block board, MDF or similar wood-based products, procured from legitimate sources too does not need the license’ anymore.
Round log/timber from species declared as agro forestry/ agricultural crops and/or exempted from the preview of the felling and transit regime in the concerned state/UT, and procured from legitimate sources However, SLC of the concerned State may allow installation of circular saw of diameter upto 60 cm in such industries having specialized requirement.
It mentioned that ‘the establishments should be beyond 10 km limit from the forest area or can be established in an Industrial Estate or a Municipal area, irrespective of the aerial distance from the boundary of nearest notified forest or protected area, though the rules may be different in North-Eastern states or Uttarakhand.
The changes observed in MOEF guidelines hint towards a freedom from license to wood based industries across the country with certain conditions which is a complete shift from existing guideline hence in coming future there will be more number of wood based industries establishments and hence more plantation in the country.