With an aim to seek the simplification of the process of getting factory licences from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and NOCs from the fire department, the representatives of an umbrella body of traders' associations on Thursday met Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta regarding the issue.

Following the Mundka fire tragedy which claimed 27 lives, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) issued a notice asking traders to obtain new factory licences or get the existing ones renewed in addition to No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the fire department. The group under the aegis of Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry of NCT Delhi sought Gupta's help to convene a meeting between industry representatives and officials of the fire department and BJP-ruled NMC.

The Apex Chamber claims that it has more than 60 industrial area associations as members and also represents a large number of individual factory owners.

Apex Chamber's vice-president Raghuvansh Arora said the BJP rules the civic bodies hence they met Gupta and requested him to simplify the licencing and fire NOC process. "We requested him (Gupta) to convene an interaction of industry owners with senior officers of the NMC and fire department for further discussions for an amicable solution," said Arora.

He said factory licences were renewed for a period of three years in 2021-22 and the licensees should not be burdened with any new guidelines.

The process to get fire NOC and factory licences should be made simple, he said. “Industries should not be closed all of sudden by civic authorities as it would create unemployment issues and result in loss of revenue,” he said.