- Govt streamlines pollution consent under unified system
- MSMEs in industrial estates to get deemed Consent to Establish
Industries in India can now apply for a consolidated pollution control consent instead of applying for water and air separately. State Pollution Control Boards will henceforth process a common application and issue integrated permissions covering consents under the Air and Water Acts along with authorisations under various Waste Management Rules.
Uniform Consent Guidelines notified under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 had been issued last year to provide “a uniform framework for granting, refusing or cancelling Consent to Establish (CTE) and Consent to Operate (CTO).”
The proposed amendment to these guidelines, will also allow the CTO to remain valid until it is cancelled. There will be no need for repeated renewals. Environmental compliance will continue to be enforced through periodic inspections, and the CTO cancelled in case violation is noticed. Further, the processing time for grant of consent to Red Category industries has been reduced from 120 days to 90 days.
The move will remove uncertainty and disruption in operations due to pending renewals, reduce procedural delays and strengthen environmental governance, claimed an official release.
States and Union territories will also henceforth be able to prescribe a one-time CTO fee for a period ranging from five to 25 years, reducing repetitive collection and administrative processing. A clear and uniform definition of ‘capital investment’ has also been introduced to make fee assessment more specific, and consistent across states.
The amendments will also allow Registered Environmental Auditors, certified under the Environment Audit Rules, 2025, to conduct site visits and verify compliance, in addition to inspections by SPCB officers. “This strengthens verification while enabling Boards to focus more on high-risk industries and enforcement,” said the release.
Consent to Establish will be deemed granted for micro and small enterprises located in notified industrial estates or areas, upon submission of a self-certified application since the land has already been assessed from an environmental perspective.
The rigid minimum-distance is also being removed, allowing competent authorities to stipulate appropriate safeguards based on local facts and circumstances like proximity to water bodies, settlements, monuments and ecologically sensitive areas.
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