Tamil Nadu announces panel to examine coir, pith industries’ demand

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday announced that the Tamil Nadu government will constitute a high-level expert committee to examine, among other issues, a demand to reclassify the coir industry from orange to white. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) had earlier reclassified coir industries from white to orange, which meant that they was shifted to the category of polluting industries. The panel would hold consultations with all stakeholders in this regard and submit a report with its recommendations to the State government, an official press release said. There are around 4,000 players in Tamil Nadu’s coir industry, employing two lakh people, including a large number of women.