NEW DELHI: The industrial units in four additional sectors — petroleum refinery, petrochemicals, textiles and secondary aluminium — must now reduce emissions by a stipulated amount, following their induction into the country’s GHG emissions intensity reduction regime, Environment Ministry officials said on Tuesday.
The reductions are expected to be in accordance with the Greenhouse Gases (GHG) Emission Intensity Target Rules, 2025.
The four sectors’ inclusion comes months after the ministry brought traditionally high-emission sectors such as aluminium, cement, chlor alkali and pulp and paper in the ambit of the reduction regime.
“As per the new norms, it has been made mandatory for as many as 208 industrial units spread across the country to reduce GHG emissions per unit of product (emission intensity), beginning 2025-26. The four more sectors added to the regime will help meet specific reduction targets by 2026-27 compared to a 2023-24 baseline,” a senior official said.
These industrial units will be liable to pay a penalty for non-compliance, the official said.
“The 208 industrial units include 173 textile units across sub-sectors such as spinning, processing, fibre and composite, besides petroleum refineries, petrochemical units and three secondary aluminium units,” the official added.
A targeted GHG emissions intensity reduction regime, like India’s new Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), mandates high-emitting industries to lower greenhouse gases per unit of product, not just overall, using a baseline year (currently, 2023-24) to set sector-specific targets (3-7 per cent cuts by 2026-27). (PTI)