Final document on revised classification of industrial sectors under Red, Orange, Green and White categories
The Union Ministry Of Environment and Forests released new categorisation of industries according to which industries which pollute the most have been put in the `Red' category while the moderately polluting units are classified `Orange'. Industries that have a significantly low pollu tion load have been placed in the `Green' category while those that operate without causing any pollution have been categorised as `White'. The newly introduced `White' category of industries have been exempted from environmental clearance.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had brought out notifications in 1989, with the purpose of prohibition/ restriction of operations of certain industries to protect ecologically sensitive Doon Valley. The notification introduced the concept of categorization of industries as ” Red”, “Orange “and “Green” with the purpose of facilitating decisions related to location of these industries. Subsequently, the application of this concept was extended in other parts of the country not only for the purpose of location of industries, but also for the purpose of Consent management and formulation of norms related to surveillance / inspection of industries. The concept of categorization of industries continued to evolve and as different State Pollution Control Boards interpreted it differently, a need arose to bring about necessary uniformity in its application across the country. In order to harmonize the ‘Criteria of categorization’, Directions were issued by CPCB under Section 18(1)(b) of the Water ( Prevention & Control of Pollution) , Act, 1974 to all SPCBs/PCCs to maintain uniformity in categorization of industries as red, green and orange as per list finalized by CPCB, which identified 85 types of industrial sectors as ‘Red’, 73 industrial sectors as ‘Orange’ and 86 sectors as ‘Green’.
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