NEW DELHI: The Union Government has streamlined regulations related to air and water pollution control to promote industrialization throughout the country.
These changes will allow industries to operate without the need for regular license renewals and reduce the approval time for establishing new industries, even those in the most polluting categories.
In another reform, the government has exempted the establishment of common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) from environmental clearance requirements.
The new notification aims to minimize procedural delays, ensuring faster, clearer, and more efficient approval processes while maintaining environmental safeguards. The processing time for granting consent to operate Red Category industries has been reduced from 120 days to 90 days.
The government has amended the Uniform Consent Guidelines under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, to further streamline the consent mechanism for industries across all states and Union Territories (UTs). This amendment removes uncertainty and disruption to operations caused by delays in renewing Consent to Operate (CTO).
A key change includes the validity of CTOs. Under the amended guidelines, once granted, a CTO will remain valid until it is cancelled. The government has stated that environmental compliance will still be enforced through periodic inspections, and a consent may be revoked if any violations are detected. This change eliminates the need for repeated renewals, reduces paperwork, lessens the compliance burden on industries, and ensures continuity of industrial operations.
Additionally, processing time for consent grants to Red Category industries has been shortened from 120 days to 90 days.
To further expedite processing, the amended guidelines permit Registered Environmental Auditors—certified under the Environment Audit Rules, 2025—to conduct site visits and verify compliance, alongside inspections by State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) officers. This enhances verification efforts while enabling Boards to focus more on high-risk industries and enforcement.
Special provisions have been introduced for Micro and Small Enterprises located in designated industrial estates or areas. For these units, Consent to Establish is deemed granted upon the submission of a self-certified application, as the land has already been assessed from an environmental perspective.
Moreover, the amended guidelines replace rigid minimum-distance siting criteria with site-specific environmental assessments. This allows competent authorities to implement appropriate safeguards based on local conditions, such as proximity to water bodies, residential areas, monuments, and ecologically sensitive regions.
In another notification, the government has revised the regulatory framework to speed up the establishment of CETPs, acknowledging that India currently has fewer effluent treatment plants than necessary.
To enhance pollution control infrastructure and promote sustainable industrial growth, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has revamped the regulatory framework governing CETPs. The government has emphasized the importance of expediting the establishment of CETPs across industrial clusters while ensuring that environmental safeguards and regulatory oversight are not compromised.
CETPs are collective pollution abatement facilities that treat industrial effluents generated by clusters of industries, particularly small and medium enterprises, which may face technical or financial constraints in establishing individual treatment systems.
Therefore, the Ministry has exempted CETPs from the requirement of prior environmental clearance, provided they implement environmental safeguards and adhere to the Uniform Consent Guidelines as well as the Environmental (Protection) Rules governing the standards for CETPs and their management and operations, which will come into effect on September 1, 2025. This reform aims to facilitate the quicker establishment of CETPs, thereby enhancing compliance and improving environmental outcomes.