In a relief to hundreds of traditional bakeries across Mumbai, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday restrained the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from taking coercive action against 311 bakeries that have yet to transition from conventional fuels like coal and wood to cleaner alternatives. The court also extended the compliance deadline from July 8 to July 28.
The division bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and N.R. Borkar passed the interim order while hearing an application filed by bakery owner Masoodul Hasan Khan and others, seeking more time to comply with the BMC’s earlier notice.
The BMC had issued the notices following a High Court directive on January 9, mandating all bakeries in the city using coal or firewood to shift to cleaner fuels such as LPG, PNG, or electric ovens by July 8. However, a significant number of bakeries—311 out of 573—remain non-compliant.
The Bombay Bakers Association (BBA) attributed the delay to the BMC’s own road-digging restrictions, especially during monsoon season. “Many bakeries have applied for PNG connections from Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL), but the BMC is not allowing road excavation on newly concretized roads,” said BBA president M. Yakub. He added that the monsoon has made obtaining such permissions even more difficult and requested up to a year to complete the transition.
BMC officials, however, contested this claim. Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijeet Bangar stated that no such MGL connections were pending due to excavation issues, although digging is generally barred during monsoons unless deemed an emergency. Another BMC official said a case-by-case approach would be taken post-monsoon, noting that gas lines cannot be routed through utility ducts.
According to BMC data, only 46 bakeries have so far made the switch to cleaner fuel, while 28 are mid-transition. One bakery has shut down, and 187 were already compliant prior to October 2023. This leaves 311 bakeries—around 54% of all operational bakeries—still using polluting fuels.
The transition is costly, with estimates ranging between ₹10 to ₹20 lakh or more, depending on bakery size. The BMC has informed bakery owners of a central government scheme offering up to ₹1 crore in loans and a ₹10 lakh subsidy to support the switch.
In a recent survey, MGL identified that PNG connections are feasible for an additional 97 bakeries and has agreed to extend pipelines up to bakery premises at no extra charge. However, bakeries must still pay a security deposit to avail the service.
The matter is expected to be reviewed again as the new July 28 deadline approaches.
