Maharashtra plastic ban: Some relief for local grocery stores

The plastic ban in Maharashtra has been relaxed for general and grocery store owners who sell products like oil, rice, sugar in small quantities to customers, Maharashtra Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam reportedly said.

The relaxation of the norms will come into effect on June 28, ANI said in a tweet.

Plastic ban relaxed for the general stores & grocery stores which sells loose products like oil, rice, sugar, etc in retail packaging. This will be effective from tomorrow, 28th June. Ban on the use of plastic by the public continues: Ramdas Kadam, Maharashtra Environment Min pic.twitter.com/05kowXx0c8

— ANI (@ANI) June 27, 2018

The ban on use of plastic by the general public came into effect on June 23.

The government had earlier relaxed its ban on PET and PETE bottles used for soft drinks and mineral water.

The Maharashtra government introduced the state-wide ban on all kinds of plastic bags irrespective of their thickness, tea cups, plastic glasses, thermocol, plastic products used in hotels to parcel food like boxes and spoons.

Meanwhile, Rs 2.95 lakh was collected as fines from over 50 shops in the first three days of the ban being implemented.

The industry had predicted that the ban would lead to a loss of Rs 15,000 crore and nearly three lakh job cuts.