Exporters in Tirupur 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 Tirupur, 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 Business Line recently.
