Surat industries could face serious disruption, including shutdowns, if they fail to strengthen pollution control and water-recycling systems, Gujarat forest and environment minister Arjun Modhwadia warned while addressing industrial representatives on Saturday.
Modhwadia said environmental non-compliance was increasingly leading to strict action against industrial units. He cited cases in Rajasthan’s Balotra and Rajkot, where textile units were ordered to shut down for polluting water sources. In Rajkot, several units were later allowed to resume operations after establishing water-recycling and reuse systems, he said.
The examples underline the growing link between environmental compliance and industrial continuity, particularly for Surat’s textile and chemical sectors. Modhwadia said these industries rely heavily on natural resources and would not be able to continue on the current path without stronger safeguards.
“Textile and chemicals are the main industries using natural resources. It will not work for long if we do not care for environment,” Modhwadia said, according to the Times of India report.
The minister also raised concerns about extensive groundwater extraction in industrial areas. He said groundwater was being withdrawn on a large scale and warned that the pattern was not sustainable. Recharge activities were being undertaken across the country, he said, but their impact would remain limited if industries continued to draw what he described as a “huge quantity” of groundwater.
Surat’s industrial economy has long depended on reliable access to water, while its textile and chemical units also generate wastewater that requires treatment before discharge or reuse. The minister’s warning places water availability, pollution control and regulatory compliance within the same operational question: whether industries can maintain production without damaging local water sources.
Modhwadia said the Central Pollution Control Board had shared draft rules aimed at significantly increasing water recycling. Under the target he cited, industries would have to recycle 70% of their water by 2030. The report did not provide further details about the draft rules, including their proposed applicability, compliance mechanism or implementation schedule.
He also said recycled water could become cheaper over time as desalination and related technologies became more affordable and delivered additional benefits. The minister urged industrial units to invest before enforcement requirements became mandatory rather than wait for regulatory action.
“If we start early we will be at advantage, otherwise we will be forced to do. Instead of being forced we should start now,” he said.
The warning comes as industrial water use remains closely tied to both environmental risk and business continuity. For Surat units, the next milestones will be the final form of the proposed CPCB rules, the compliance timelines that may follow and the extent to which water-recycling systems are adopted before enforcement action is initiated.
