NEW DELHI: India has rolled back a decade-old regulation requiring coal-fired power plants to install costly clean-air equipment, exempting most units from strict sulphur emission standards.
A government order issued late Friday revealed the policy shift, which spares 79% of coal plants outside heavily populated or polluted areas from compliance.
The 2015 mandate had required nearly 540 coal-based power units to adopt flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems in phases starting 2027.
The new directive, however, limits enforcement to just 10% of plants located near major cities like New Delhi, giving them until December 2027 to comply. Another 11% of plants near urban zones will be assessed on a “case-to-case basis.”
State-run NTPC, India’s largest power producer, has already invested $4 billion in FGD systems for 11% of its plants.
About half of the remaining units have either ordered or begun installing the equipment. The government’s notification did not address how the policy reversal would affect cost recovery for these investments.
The decision followed a Central Pollution Control Board analysis of increased carbon dioxide emissions linked to operating pollution control measures. The move raises concerns about air quality but aligns with industry demands for relaxed compliance burdens. – Reuters
