Districts with substantial economic activity should be permitted to resume all industrial and business operations with highest safety protocols for enterprises to remain financially sustainable while averting job losses, the CII said on Sunday.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) called for the economic contribution of districts to be taken into consideration while classifying lockdown zones.

Districts with high economic activity should resume all industrial and business operations, including in containment zones with highest safety protocols, the CII said in its report titled “A Strategy Note on Resumption of Economic Activities in Industrial Areas”, submitted to the government.

The government notification of May 1 has permitted industrial estates, special economic zones (SEZ) and industrial townships with restricted entry within the urban areas of red zones to commence operations.

The industry body said that all industrial units, including in non-notified industrial areas and standalone units, be allowed to function in urban areas. These should include non-essential goods and services as well.

It has recommended that close surrounding areas can be classified as orange zones where industrial activity can be continued with strict precautionary measures and monitoring.

The distinction of essential and non-essential items should be removed and all factories should be permitted to restart, according to CII.

“The third phase of lockdown necessitates a focused strategy to minimise economic contraction because of Covid-19, without compromising on efforts to control the contagion. Prioritising districts with heavy presence of economic and industrial activities with continued operations accompanied by strictest precautions can help enterprises to remain financially sustainable while averting job losses,” CII director-general Chandrajit Banerjee said.

While the protracted lockdown in the country, necessitated by the rapid spread of Covid-19, has helped in controlling the spread of epidemic and given us time to augment medical capacity, it has also caused enormous stress to the financial sustainability of many businesses, the chamber said.

The CII has requested that the top districts should be identified based on variables like their contribution to the country’s GDP, or presence of industrial estates and clusters or registration of enterprises in a district.

Instead of the current practice of classifying the entire district as a red zone, the CII has suggested the need for classifying zones as containment, orange and green within an industrial district.

Economic activities, in varying degrees of relaxation, should be permitted in all areas of those districts, but health and safety protocols would differ from zone to zone, the chamber suggested.