In a move to further control the air quality in Delhi-NCR, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) Saturday proposed a uniform and more stringent particulate matter (PM) emission standard of 50 mg/Nm³ for identified industries.
The new standard is based on the recommendations of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) based on studies conducted by IIT Kanpur and the Technical Committee constituted by the pollution control board.
The Commission has considered the new standard technically achievable and environmentally necessary. “The revised standard is expected to significantly reduce industrial emissions and contribute to the abatement of air pollution, leading to benefits for people living in the immediate vicinity of industrial sources and overall improvement in regional air quality,” Central government said in a statement.
According to CAQM’s new emission regime, the maximum permissible limit of PM emissions from 17 categories of highly polluting industries identified by CPCB—red category (medium and large) air-polluting industries, food and food processing units, textile industries having boilers/thermic fluid heaters and metal industries having furnaces—operating in Delhi-NCR shall be 50 mg/Nm³.
For large and medium industries, the revised PM emission standard shall be applicable with effect from August 1, 2026, while it will be applicable for the remaining industries with from October 1, 2026.
Industrial stack emissions are a significant source contributing to elevated PM levels in Delhi-NCR and also lead to secondary particulate formation, thereby adversely impacting air quality in the region.