CATEGORISATION OF INDUSTRIES IN INDIA
During the 58th Conference of Chairmen & Member Secretaries of Pollution Control Boards/Pollution control Committees held in Bengaluru during February 21-22, 2014, it was resolved to constitute a "Working Group" to develop 'Criteria' based on well laid definitions for Classification of Industries under Red, Orange and Green Categories. In pursuance of the resolution, the Competent Authority, CPCB is pleased to constitute the 'Working Group' comprising of the members and chairmen of 8 different State Pollution Control Boards, to review the classification system of industries into different categories.
The “Working Group” has to review the issue and submit the final report based on the inputs given by different SPCBs/PCCs and also representations received from various organizations/ associations. The report had covered the following:
Framing of definition of the Red, Orange and Green categories of industries on the lines as was practiced during categorization of industries under "Doon Valley Notification".
New CATEGORISATION OF INDUSTRIES IN INDIA
The Government has introduced new categorization of industries based on their pollution load. The new category of White industries which is practically non-polluting does not require Environmental Clearance (EC) and Consent.
“Re-categorization of industries based on their pollution load is a scientific exercise. The old system of categorization was creating problems for many industries and was not reflecting the pollution of the industries. The new categories will remove this lacuna and will give clear picture to everyone. 25 industrial sectors which were not critically polluting were also earlier categorized as Red.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has developed the criteria of categorization of industrial sectors based on the Pollution Index which is a function of the emissions (air pollutants), effluents (water pollutants), hazardous wastes generated and consumption of resources. For this purpose the references are taken from the the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution ) Cess (Amendment) Act, 2003, Standards so far prescribed for various pollutants under Environment (Protection) Act , 1986 and Doon Valley Notification, 1989 issued by MoEFCC. The Pollution Index PI of any industrial sector is a number from 0 to 100 and the increasing value of PI denotes the increasing degree of pollution load from the industrial sector. Based on the series of brain storming sessions among CPCB, SPCBs and MoEFCC , the following criteria on ‘Range of Pollution Index ‘for the purpose of categorization of industrial sectors is finalized.
o Industrial Sectors having Pollution Index score of 60 and above - Red category
o Industrial Sectors having Pollution Index score of 41 to 59 – Orange category
o Industrial Sectors having Pollution Index score of 21 to 40 – Green category
o Industrial Sectors having Pollution Index score incl.&upto 20 - White category
The salient features of the ‘Re-categorization’ exercise are as follows:
Ø Due importance has been given to relative pollution potential of the industrial sectors based on scientific criteria. Further, wherever possible, splitting of the industrial sectors is also considered based on the use of raw materials, manufacturing process adopted and in-turn pollutants expected to be generated.
Ø The Red category of industrial sectors would be 60.
Ø The Orange category of industrial sectors would be 83.
Ø The Green category of industrial sectors would be 63.
Ø Newly-introduced White category contains 36 industrial sectors which are practically non-polluting.
Ø There shall be no necessity of obtaining the Consent to Operate’’ for White category of industries. An intimation to concerned SPCB / PCC shall suffice.
Ø No Red category of industries shall normally be permitted in the ecologically fragile area / protected area.
The details of the industries falling under Red, Orange , Green and White categories are presented in tables (given below).
The newly introduced White category of industries pertains to those industrial sectors which are practically non-polluting, such as Biscuit trays etc. from rolled PVC sheet (using automatic vacuum forming machines), Cotton and woolen hosiers making (Dry process only without any dying/washing operation), Electric lamp (bulb) and CFL manufacturing by assembling only, Scientific and mathematical instrument manufacturing, Solar power generation through photovoltaic cell, wind power and mini hydel power (less than 25 MW).
The purpose of the categorization is to ensure that the industry is established in a manner which is consistent with the environmental objectives. The new criteria will prompt industrial sectors willing to adopt cleaner technologies, ultimately resulting in generation of fewer pollutants. Another feature of the new categorization system lies in facilitating self-assessment by industries as the subjectivity of earlier assessment has been eliminated. This ‘Re-categorization’ is a part of the efforts, policies and objective of present government to create a clean & transparent working environment in the country and promote the Ease of Doing Business.