Union Power Ministry Seeks Two-Year Delay for Emission Norms Deadline

India had initially set a 2017 deadline for thermal power plants which was later changed to varying deadlines for different regions, ending in 2022.

Sudarshan Varadhan

India had initially set a 2017 deadline for thermal power plants which was later changed to varying deadlines for different regions, ending in 2022.

union power ministry seeks two year delay for emission norms deadline

Labourers work next to electricity pylons in Mumbai, India, October 13, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas

New Delhi: India's power ministry has sought a two-year extension from the environment ministry for utilities to install emission cutting equipment, according to a power ministry letter seen by Reuters.

India initially had set a 2017 deadline for thermal power plants to comply with emissions standards for installing flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units that cut emissions of toxic sulphur dioxide. That was later changed to varying deadlines for different regions, ending in 2022.

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Thermal power companies, which produce three-quarters of the country's electricity, account for some 80% of India's industrial emissions of sulphur- and nitrous-oxides in India, which cause lung diseases, acid rain and smog.

(Reuters)

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