IndiaFilings Review of The Industries Development Bill 2015

The Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 was enacted to provide for the development and regulation of certain industries. The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 7, 2015 by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman to amend the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951. In this article, we review the proposed Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015.

Main Amendments

The current Industries Act, 1951 regulates the production of alcohol for potable purposes. The Industries Development Bill, 2015 would exclude production of alcohol for potable purposes from the ambit of the Act. The Supreme Court of India has already demarcated the regulation of production of alcohol between centre and states (Bihar Distillery and another vs. Union of India and others). The court ruled that centre should regulate the production of alcohol for industrial use and states should regulate the production of alcohol for potable purpose (domestic consumption). The Bill conforms to the Supreme Court’s decision.

Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951

The Industries Act, 1951 governs all aspects of industrial undertakings in India. Every person/entity who starts or owns an existing industrial undertaking, not being the Central Government are required to be registered under this Act. The following are some of the industries classified as industrial undertaking:

METALLURGICAL INDUSTRIES

Iron and steel (metal)
Ferro- alloys
Iron and steel castings and forgings
Iron and steel structurals
Iron and steel pipes
Special steels
Other products of iron and steel
Precious metals, including gold and silver, and their alloys
Other non-ferrous metals and their alloys

FUELS

Coal, lignite, coke and their derivatives
Mineral oil (crude oil), motor and aviation spirit, diesel oil, kerosene oil, fuel oil, diverse hydrocarbon oils and their blends including synthetic fuels, lubricating oils and the like
Fuel gases-(coal gas, natural gas and the like)

BOILERS AND STEAM GENERATING PLANTS

Boilers and steam generating plants

PRIME MOVERS

Steam engines and turbines
Internal combustion engines

ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

Equipment for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity including transformers
Electrical motors
Electrical fans
Electrical lamps
Electrical furnaces
Electrical cables and wires
X-ray equipment
Electronic equipment
Household appliances such as electric irons, heaters and the like
Storage batteries
Dry cells

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Telephones
Telegraph equipment
Wireless communication apparatus
Radio receivers, including amplifying and public address equipment
Television sets
Teleprinters

TRANSPORTATION

Aircraft
Ships and other vessels drawn by power
Railway locomotives
Railway rolling stock
Automobiles (motor cars, buses, trucks, motor cycles, scooters and the like)
Bicycles
Others such as fork lift trucks and the like

INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY

Textile machinery (such as spinning frames, carding machines powerlooms and the like) including textile accessories
Jute machinery
Rayon machinery
Sugar machinery
Tea machinery
Mining machinery
Metallurgical machinery
Cement machinery
Chemical machinery
Pharmaceuticals machinery
Paper machinery
Conveying equipment- bucket elevators, skip hoist, cranes, derrick and the like
Size separation units-screens, classifiers and the like.
Mixers and reactors-kneading mills, turbo mixers and the like
Filtration equipment-filter presses, rotary filters and the like
Centrifugal machines
Evaporators
Distillation equipment
Crystallisers
Driers
Power driven pumps-reciprocating, centrifugal and the like
Air and gas compressors and vacuum pipes (excluding electrical furnaces)
Refrigeration plants for industrial use
Fire fighting equipment and appliances including fire engines
Ball, roller and tapered bearings
Speed reduction units
Grinding wheels and abrasives.