Environmental Legislation India 080204

Environmental Legislation in India
January 2008
Table of contents
1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 6
2 INDIA TODAY ................................................................................................................... 7
2.1 KEY FACTS ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.2 POLITICAL SYSTEM .......................................................................................................................................... 8
2.3 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................................... 8
2.3.1 Power Distribution – legislation and decision-making .............................................................................. 8
2.3.2 Governance at Central-level....................................................................................................................... 9
2.3.3 Governance at State-level........................................................................................................................... 9
2.4 ECONOMIC SITUATION ................................................................................................................................... 10
3 DEVELOPMENT TRENDS .......................................................................................... 11

4 DRIVERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT...................................................................................... 13
5 FOCUS AREAS AND WEAK SIGNALS .................................................................... 15
6 ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION......................................................................... 16
6.1 LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT ......................................................................................................................... 16
6.1.1 Administrative Issues ................................................................................................................................ 16
6.1.2 Problematic Implementation and Gaps .................................................................................................... 16
6.1.3 Environment and Pollution Control Related Laws ................................................................................... 17
6.2 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS ..................................................................................................................... 19
6.3 OPERATIVE ISSUES ......................................................................................................................................... 20
6.3.1 Permissions Required ............................................................................................................................... 20
6.3.2 Controlling Environmental Performance ................................................................................................. 21
6.4 ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS....................................................................................................................... 21
6.4.1 Standard Development.............................................................................................................................. 21
6.4.2 Most important environmental standards ................................................................................................. 22
6.4.3 Proposed standards .................................................................................................................................. 22
6.5 ENERGY EFFICIENCY ...................................................................................................................................... 23
6.6 BIO-FUEL POLICY AND LEGISLATION ............................................................................................................. 24
6.6.1 Bio-diesel Purchase Policy....................................................................................................................... 24
6.6.2 Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Program .................................................................................................. 24
6.6.3 Proposed National Policy on Bio-fuels..................................................................................................... 25
6.7 EFFICIENT USE OF MATERIALS....................................................................................................................... 25
6.8 CHEMICALS .................................................................................................................................................... 25
6.8.1 Domestic Rules ......................................................................................................................................... 25
6.8.2 International Regulations ......................................................................................................................... 26
6.9 RECYCLING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT........................................................................................................ 27
6.9.1 Waste Management................................................................................................................................... 27
6.9.2 Recycling .................................................................................................................................................. 31
7 NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINNISH COMPANIES ....................................... 32

8 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................ 34
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Table of Figures
Figure 1 Map of India ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Table of Tables
Table 1 Main economic indicators ................................................................................................................. 10

Table 2 Types of hazardous waste ................................................................................................................. 29
List of Abbreviations:
BEE Bureau of Energy Efficiency
BIS Bureau of Indian Standards
BJP Bharatiya Janata Party
CDM Clean Development Mechanism
CNG Compressed Natural Gas
CPCB Central Pollution Control Board
DBT Department of Biotechnology
EBP Ethanol Blended Petroleum
ECBC Energy Conservation Building Code
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GHG Green House Gas
GoI Government of India
GoM Group of Ministers
kVA Kilo Volt Ampere
kW Kilowatt
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas
LRTAP Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
MoEF Ministry of Environment and Forests
MoPNG Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
MoRD Ministry of Rural Development
MSWM Municipal Solid Waste Management
NEP National Environment Policy
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
OHSAS Occupational Health and Safety Standard
PIL Public Interest Litigation
PPP Purchase Power Parity
REACH Registration Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals
SoE State of the Environment
SPCB State Pollution Control Board
SWM Solid Waste Management
UN United Nations
USD US Dollar
VOC Volatile Organic Compound
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Editors:
Ulla Roiha, Finpro, Region Asia

Aleksi Mäkinen, Finpro, Region Asia
For contact information, see www.finpro.fi.
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1 INTRODUCTION
India is world’s largest democracy with population of 1.1 billion. It is diverse country
with number of languages, religions, cultures etc. During the past decade or so, the
economic and industrial growth of the country has been extremely fast. This, combined
with the population growth, has put an immense pressure on environmental capacity.
The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, and particularly its Environmental
Branch, asked Finpro to conduct a study on the environmental issues in India; the main
idea for the report was to help Finnish companies to bring out their expertise and to
recognize their possibilities in the Indian market within the current and the impending
legislative framework.
Thus, this report aims at giving a good overview picture of the environmental trends and
legislation in India. The second chapter starts with introduction to India, Indian political
system and to the current economic situation accompanied with some relevant key facts.
After that the report moves on to environmental issues: Chapter 3 discusses the actual
environmental status and the development trends in India. Chapter 4 is devoted to
present the drivers behind the environmental conservation and sustainable development;
as well it deals with the public environmental awareness. Chapter 5 is about the focus
areas where the emphasis is on from the government point of view. Chapter 5 also
enlightens the reader on some positive signals which are speaking for the change in the
attitudes towards the environment.
Chapter 6 – Environmental Legislation – is rather an extensive overview to the

environmental legislation in India. It begins with describing the administrative and
legislative environment with its problems (mainly the problem of implementing the laws)
and then moves on to the most important environment related laws, rules, and standards.
International conventions are discussed before the operative issues, such as
environmental clearances. The last half of chapter 6 focuses on energy efficiency,
efficient use of materials, chemicals, and waste management alongside with recycling.
Chapter 7 assesses briefly the opportunities for Finnish companies in India in the
environmental legislative framework; what are the major weaknesses in the current
situation and how could Finnish expertise be utilized in the country. The conclusions are
given in the chapter 8.
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2 INDIA TODAY
2.1 Key Facts

India is world’s largest democracy with population of 1.1 billion. It is diverse country
with number of languages, religions, cultures etc. Below are some of the key facts of the
country:
• Indian name: Bharat

• Form of State: Federal republic, parliamentary democracy
• Area: 3.3 million sq km (divided into 29 States and 6 Union Territories)
• Capital: New Delhi
• Other important cities: Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune
• Important ports: Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai
• Neighboring countries: Pakistan, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh
• Major languages: Hindi, English (official languages), Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil,
Urdu
• Major religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism
• Climate: Wide seasonal variations from mountain climate in the north to tropical
climate in the south (snowfall during winter is common in the hills of Northern
India)
• Population: 1.1 billion (2005, UN)
• Life expectancy: 65.3 years (women), 62.1 years (men) (2004, UN)
• Adult literacy rate: 61% (2004, UN)
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Figure 1 Map of India
2.2 Political System

India attained freedom on 15 August 1947. The Constitution of the Republic came into
effect on 26 January 1950. The Constitution provides for single and uniform citizenship
for the whole nation and confers the right to vote on every person who is a citizen of
India and 18 years of age or older.
India has huge number of political parties, most of which operate at the state-level. 231
parties participated in the previous parliamentary-elections. Two parties are above all the
others in terms of sizes and importance: Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party).
However, neither of them is capable of forming a government without the support from
number of smaller parties, and the coalition government is rather rule than an exception.
Parliamentary elections at central lever are run every five years. However, it is rather
common that due to disputes the government in power does not sit for the full five years.
2.3 Governance structure

2.3.1 Power Distribution – legislation and decision-making
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India has 29 states governed by their own parliament. It also has 7 union territories,
which come under jurisdiction of the central government. Relations between the centre
and state are shaped by the 7th schedule of the Indian constitution which describes the
legislative, executive and judicial powers of the Centre and the state through Union, State
and Concurrent lists.
• The union list consists of 97 subjects on which the central government or the
Parliament can make laws. The subjects in this list include subjects of nation
importance like defense, foreign affairs, atomic energy, banking, post and telegraph.
The central government makes laws on these at all times.
• The state list contains 66 subjects of local or state importance on which the state
governments can make laws. These subjects include police, local governments, trade,
commerce and agriculture.
• The concurrent list contains 47 subjects on which both the Parliament and the state
legislatures can make laws. It includes criminal and civil procedure, marriage and
divorce, education, economic planning and trade unions. However, in case of
conflict between a law made by the central government and a law made by the state
legislatures, the law made by the central government will prevail.
In 1992 constitutional amendments introduced a third tier of fiscal authority, giving

constitutional validity to existing rural and urban local governments.
Indian judiciary is independent of the executive. It is the guardian and interpreter of the
Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial tribunal, positioned at the apex of
a single unified system for the whole country. Each State has its own High Court. A
uniform code of civil and criminal laws applies to the whole country.
2.3.2 Governance at Central-level
India has a parliamentary form of government based on universal adult franchise. The
executive authority is responsible to the elected representatives of the people in the
Parliament for all its decisions and actions. Sovereignty rests ultimately with the people.
The Parliament is bi-cameral consisting of
• Rajya Sabha (Council of States)

• Lok Sabha (House of the People).
The President of India is the Head of the State and the Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces. The President does not normally exercise any constitutional powers on
his own initiative. These are exercised by the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime
Minister, which is responsible to the elected Parliament.
2.3.3 Governance at State-level
The States have their own Legislative Assemblies and in certain cases a second Chamber.
All members of the Legislative Assemblies are elected by universal adult franchise. The
Head of the States are called Governors. Appointed by the President, they normally
exercise the same powers in the States as the President does at the Union government
level. As in the Central Government, each State has a Cabinet headed by the Chief
Minister responsible to the elected State Legislature.
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2.4 Economic Situation

Among the large economies of the world today, the Indian economy is the second fastest
growing economy right after China. In terms of purchase power parity (PPP) GDP, India
is the fourth largest economy after the US, China and Japan, and India’s share in world
GDP (PPP) basis has risen up to 6 % recently. According to the World Bank India has
been on the top 10 % of all countries in growth performance since the 1980s. The
economic growth has exceeded 9 % already and in the early 2007 the total GDP was first
time above USD 1 trillion. Despite the strong economic growth the wealth has not been
distributed equally among the Indians; the gap between the rich and the poor has even
increased.
Unlike many other Asian economies the driving force behind India’s economic growth
has not been the export sector. The growth has been strongly based on strong increase in
domestic demand. Besides the huge domestic market potential India’s other factors
behind the economical success story has been in being the target country for sourcing
business processes as well as being a giant in software production. All this has made India
an attractive trade partner and a target country for investments.
Table 1 Main economic indicators
2000 2005 2006
GDP (current USD) 460.2 billion 805.7 billion 906.3 billion
GDP growth (annual %) 4 9.2 9.2
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %) 3.5 4.4 5.3
Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) 23.4 18.3 17.5
Industry, value added (% of GDP) 26.2 27.3 27.7
Services, etc., value added (% of GDP) 50.5 54.4 54.7
Exports of goods and services (% of
GDP) 13.2 20.3 17.7
Imports of goods and services (% of
GDP) 24.8 23.3 24.9
Currency (per USD) 45.7 44.9 44.3
135 billion
Foreign currency assets (in USD) (year 2004) 145 billion 192 billion
-4.9 (2001-05
Fiscal balance (% of GDP) avg.) -4.1 -3,5
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3 DEVELOPMENT TRENDS
India is facing the dilemma of combining fast economic growth with sustainable
development and environmental conservation. The process of economic growth has
been exerting increasing pressure on the ecological carrying capacity of the country.
Although large industries, by and large, have moved away from urban centres, the small
and medium sized industries and many others in unorganized sector have continued to
conglomerate in big cities, thus, leading to environmental problems.
As a result of the growth, India has witnessed significant environmental degradation in

the last two decades: The air quality in the major cities is poor; cities are drowning in
waste; toxic pollutant level in several cities generally exceeds the proposed guideline
value; ground water quality problem is a serious concern in many critically polluted and
urban areas; water quality standard is exceeded in several river stretches, and the list goes
on. Cancer, heart, and lung diseases have become causes of death in, and a growing body
of evidence links occurrence of these diseases to pollutants in the environment.
Despite of all that degradation, environmental concerns have been taken into account
already for some time now – for example, an Environment Impact Statement for every
project, was introduced as far back as 1978, and was made mandatory from 1994. Public
hearings have also become an integral part of exercising projects since 1997. The
Environment Protection Act was passed in 1986, creating the Ministry of Environment
and Forests (MoEF). Under the 1986 Environmental Protection Act, the MoEF is tasked
with the overall responsibility for administering and enforcing environmental laws and
policies. The MoEF established the importance of integrating environmental strategies
into any development plan for the country.
More recently, the latest version of the National Environment Policy was introduced in
2006. It is intended to be a statement of India's commitment to making a positive
contribution to international efforts on fighting environmental degradation. It is also
meant to be a guide to action. The dominant theme of this policy is that while
conservation of environmental resources is necessary to secure livelihoods and well-being
of all, the most secure basis for conservation is to ensure that people dependent on
particular resources obtain better livelihoods from the fact of conservation than from
degradation of the resource.
The last few years have witnessed introduction of landmark environmental measures that
have targeted cleansing of rivers, enhanced forestation, installed significant capacity of
hydro and renewable energy technologies and introduced the world’s largest urban fleet
of CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles in Delhi. The Indian government has
simultaneously introduced clean coal technologies like coal washing and introduced the
use of cleaner and lesser carbon intensive fuel, like introducing auto LPG (liquefied
petroleum gas) and setting up of Motor Spirit-Ethanol blending projects in selected
states. These pro-active actions have realigned economic development to a more climate-
friendly path. Simultaneously, this also helps in earning carbon credits for the country.
India has adopted almost all environmental protection acts and rules enforced in
developed countries. There are around 30 acts and rules related to environment: The laws
are in place, but the enforcement mechanisms are very weak. The awareness on
conservation of the environment is also very low: Even educated people do not see the
connection between their actions and the environmental degradation. This combined
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with the widespread corruption ensures that the environmental degradation continues –
and will continue. The environmental issues are included in the policies, but in practice
too little has happened.
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4 DRIVERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Sustaining the growth in long run
For a country like India, with giant economy (the fourth largest in the world) that has
been growing as an average of 7 percent for over a decade now, and plans to grow even
faster in the future, environment management is of special importance. For example, by
2025, more than half of India’s population (by then ~1,3 billion) will be living in urban
centers. Within just 10 years, five of India’s cities will be among the 30 largest in the
world, with traffic congestion and heightened pollution to match. Already today India is
the sixth largest and the second fastest growing producer of Green House Gases
(GHGs).
The consequences of such rapid urbanization and increasing industrial activity for the
environment can be imagined. They will put enormous additional pressure on India’s
already strained city infrastructure, and lead to heightened demands for clean water, waste
treatment and air pollution controls. To sustain the growth in the long run, will call for
strong and imaginative policies to minimize the negative impact on the living conditions
of the urban population.
Global and local pressure
General global pressure on reducing GHGs and other emissions is driving also India
towards more sustainable direction; if India wants to attract international investments and
be the location for global manufacturing and business in general, it must follow the
global tightening standards and restrictions. India also plays an important role in several
significant international initiatives concerned with the environment and is a party to key
multilateral agreements. The global focus is thus more and more on India.
There is also a number of active, both international and domestic, pressure groups like
NGOs which are demanding for increased attention towards environmental issues.
Citizens suffering from the pollution and polluted environment are expressing their
concerns. More and more people also travel and live abroad and after returning to India
place demands for cleaner environment.
India’s image
As mentioned in the previous chapter, the global focus is currently on India. There are
also a number of large Indian companies which are aggressively investing overseas. These
companies want to follow international standards to preserve their image. India as a
country, in turn, wants to position itself as the tourist destination of the world, which
means that at least tourist hotspots are to be cleaned up.
Cost savings
India is dependent on oil-imports. With increasing global oil prices, running

manufacturing units is becoming more and more expensive. Thus companies have to
utilize all the possibilities to become more energy efficient. Renewable sources, which are
already of high priority, are to be used increasingly to keep the oil-bill acceptable. These
cost savings also apply to other activities like efficient use of materials.
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Legislation
Legislation alone does not guarantee sustainable development. The situation is extremely
tricky in the country like India, where implementation is very difficult. Rules, however,
can work as a driver towards conservation: for instance those that are inbuilt in the
permission system, force industries to take environmental issues into consideration.
The Supreme Court of India has recognized and accepted the concept of sustainable
development 1 as an important principle in maintaining the right balance between the
environment and development. In one case the Court opined that the principles of
sustainable development are part of customary international law and thus there is now
difficulty in accepting them as part of the domestic law. Since the first statement, this
observation has been quoted by various judges of the Supreme Court while deciding on
environmental issues. It can thus be concluded that the sustainable development has
been accepted as the law of the land. Supreme Court’s intervention in general is
important when enforcing environmental legislation.
Proactive individuals and opinion leaders
Some of the leaders – both in private and public sector – are actively speaking for a
cleaner environment. These leaders can make a significant change in a company or in
certain locality.
Despite these positive signs there are also many alarming, and strong, signals of the
graveness of the environmental problems. In certain parts of the country the air has
become harmful for human beings to breathe, water unfit to drink, and land unfit to live
on because of toxic wastes. On the other hand, per capita emissions in India are still very
low compared to those in Europe or US.
1 Following have been considered as salient features of sustainable development: inter-generational equity; use and
conservation of natural resources; environmental protection; the precautionary principle; polluter pays principle; oblogation
to assist and co-operate; and eradication of poverty,
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5 FOCUS AREAS AND WEAK SIGNALS
The National State of the Environment (SoE) Report of India 2001 and the National
Environment Policy (NEP) 2006 both have focus on some particular areas. The NEP
2006 focuses on policy issues such as
• conservation of critical environmental resources

• intra-generational equity - securing livelihood for the poor
• integration of environmental concerns in economic and social development
• efficiency in environmental resource use
• environmental governance
• enhancement of resources for environmental conservation.
The SoE 2001 in turn has got the focus on the current state of the environment. The
report identified the five priority key issues for India:
• land degradation
• biodiversity
• air pollution control with special reference to vehicular pollution in cities
• management of fresh water resources
• hazardous waste management.
Apart from the official focus areas, there are signals which are speaking for the change in
the attitudes towards the environment. As stated before, the environmental awareness is
still very low. Awareness creating campaigns, however, have become rather popular and
their visibility has increased over the past years.
Articles about the air pollution level of the cities, open dumping sites can be read daily.
There are advertisements in all the newspapers, which direct the people to conserve
energy, recycle plastic and stop littering. Similar kind of advertisements can be found at
airports, roadsides and public places. Recently there was an announcement about a
photographic competition in one of the leading newspapers: “take a picture of the worst
polluted sight you have seen and send it to us”.
All these examples show that somebody has awakened. The focus is still on awareness-
creation, but the number of the campaigns has increased substantially over the past two–
three years. Additionally, the new satellite towns which are being built are designed in an
eco-friendly manner. Eco-communities, resorts and housing complexes can also be
found.
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6 ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
6.1 Legislative Environment

The Indian Constitution provides necessary directives and powers for framing and
enforcing environmental legislation. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF),
the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)
form the regulatory and administrative core.
6.1.1 Administrative Issues
The powers of the Environment (Protection) Act have been exercised by the Central
Government through the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). However, the
monitoring mechanism for implementation of the Act is still undefined, although for the
various regulations enforcement institutions have been enlisted. Also in several areas of
environmental concern, such as vehicular-pollution control, the MoEF has no decisive
role, since it is implemented by a separate Ministry through the Motor Vehicles Act.
In general, environmental issues are on the concurrent list which means that they are
included in jurisdiction of both Central and State Governments. The local bodies, in turn,
have certain responsibilities. Central Government gives the policy guidelines, but the
implementation of environmental laws and regulations is a state responsibility. Every
state and union territory has a Department of Environment. States also have the State
Pollution Control Board (SPCB) whose activities are coordinated by the CPCB. The
SPCB can be seen as an executing agency of the Department of Environment – together
they manage the implementation of environmental laws on a state level. Apart from
coordinating the activities of SPCBs the CPCB is advising the Central Government in all
the matters related to protection of environment. As it is stated in the Constitution of
India, it is the duty of the state (Article 48 A) to ‘protect and improve the environment
and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country’.
The major instrument with the State to check environmental degradation is undoubtedly
regulation. The country has adopted almost all environmental protection Acts and rules
enforced in developed countries. The government has formulated comprehensive
legislation to enable the institutions like pollution control boards to effectively protect the
environment. There are around 30 acts and rules related to environment. These can be
accessed at http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/legis.html.
There are also other Ministries and departments that deal with environmental issues.
These include Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources, Ministry of Power,
Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation,
Ministry of Petroleum etc.
6.1.2 Problematic Implementation and Gaps
Despite the existence of a legal framework for environmental protection, environmental

degradation continues. The laws are in place, but the enforcement mechanism is very
weak. The need to reduce the gap between principle and practice cannot be over-
emphasized.
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Any policy or any law is only as good as its implementation. It is unfortunately true that
the Indian enforcement mechanism is very weak although the laws are very well drawn
up. A careful analysis of the laws reveals that there are inherent deficiencies in legislation
which are closely linked to lapses in enforcement. Perhaps, the most serious lacunas are
the over-dependences on the legal system. In a view with of the legislative and executive
indifference, inefficiency and failures, the role of the judiciary becomes important in
shaping the environmental laws: The laws are often not implemented thoroughly in
practice before the Supreme Court has given an enforcing statement. In Delhi for
instance it was the Supreme Court that enforced the entire public transport systems to
switch to CNG. There are also other similar examples.
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has become and important tool in the hands of
environmentalists and the judiciary for protection of environment from pollution and
degradation.
However, usually the courts are too busy to devote enough time for environment related
litigations and as a result of that, thousands of cases filed by the State against the violators
of Environmental Acts are still pending after years on the statutes. In a good number of
cases where decisions are taken the polluters have been given the benefit of doubt on
technical grounds, as the Boards could not adequately meet the “onus of proof”. More
often than not, the polluters hire highly paid advocates to plead their cases, whereas the
State Boards are unable to do so because of financial constraints.
There are also gaps in legislation and some major areas of hazards are not covered.
Because of a multiplicity of regulatory agencies, there is a need for authority which can
assume the lead role in studying, planning and implementing long term requirements of
environmental safety and give a direction and coordinate a speedy and adequate response
to environmental threats.
6.1.3 Environment and Pollution Control Related Laws
The legislation on environmental and pollution control related issues is extensive and
very much industry specific.
The most important Act is The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986 intends to achieve the place of umbrella legislation by providing
solution to virtually every kind of environmental problems through appointment of
authorities and rule-making mechanism. It also aims at coordinating the activities of
various Central and State Authorities established under previous enactments like Water
and Air Acts.
The Environment (Protection) Act, consisting of 26 sections distributed in four chapters,

for instance prohibits persons carrying on industry operation etc. from discharging or any
environmental pollutants in excess of the prescribed standards. Further, the statute
permits handling of hazardous substance only in accordance with the procedure and after
complying with such safeguards that are prescribed for the same. The Act provides for
penalties (including imprisonment) in cases of contravention of the provisions.
The concentration of powers in the central government is the hallmark of the

Environment Act: Extensive powers have been given to the central Government for
prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution. The Central Government
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can, by notification in the official Gazette, introduce new environment-related standards,

restrictions and prohibitions.
Some of the important rules made under the Act include:
• The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986

• The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989
• The Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989
• The Hazardous Micro-Organism Rules, 1989
• The Chemical Accident (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules,
1996
• The Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998
• The Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Uses Rules, 1999
• The Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000
• The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000
• The Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.
Out of these the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 cover the widest array of issues.
The Rules lay down procedures for setting standards for emissions and discharge of
environmental pollutants and introduce standards for numerous industries (totally 86).
Subsequently CPCB has identified 17 categories of major polluting industries 2 for which
action plans have been formulated and standards introduced.
Besides the aforesaid existing procedural Rules framed under the parent Act, there are
various quasi-laws like
• Emission Standards as per Air Act, 1981

• Emission Standards for Automobiles for Prevention and Control of Pollution.
• Specifications for standard Tolerance Limits for Industrial and Sewage effluents
followed by West Bengal Pollution Control Board
• Standards for Emissions of Air Pollution into the Atmosphere from Industrial Plants
• Guidelines for diversion of forestlands for non-forest purposes under forest Act,
1980
• Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment
• Guidelines for Environmental Appraisal of Industrial Projects.
• Guidelines for Integrating Environmental concerns with exploitation of Mineral
Resources
• Environmental Guidelines for Formulation of River Valley projects
• Environmental Guidelines for Thermal Power Plants
• Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment of Shipping and Harbour Projects
• Prevention of Hazards from Industrial Units: government of India's Instruction
• Environmental Clearance of Industrial License Conditions of letter of Intent/
Industrial License.
• Environmental Guidelines for Siting of Industries
2
These are Aluminium Smelter, Caustic Soda, Cement, Copper Smelter , Distilleries, Dyes & Dye Intermediates ,
Fertilisers, Integrated Iron & Steel, Tanneries, Pesticides, Petrochemicals, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, Pulp & Paper, Oil
Refineries, Sugar, Thermal Power Plants, Zinc Smelter
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• Incentives to Industries for Prevention and control of Pollution and Conservation of

Resources.
Some of these rules and quasi-laws will be discussed in more detail in following chapters.
The following are some of other important Environment and Pollution control related
laws:
Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 provides for the prevention, control
and abetment of air pollution. The Act prohibits emission of air pollutants in excess of
the standards laid down. The Act also prohibits establishment of industrial plants in an
air pollution control area so designated by the Central/State Pollution Control Board
without prior approval of such pollution control boards. Penalties are prescribed for non-
compliance of the provisions of the Act.
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 provides for the prevention and
control of water pollution and the maintaining or restoring of wholesomeness of water.
The Act restricts establishment of any industry, operation or process, or any treatment
and disposal system which is likely to discharge sewage or effluent into a stream or well
or sewer or on land without the prior consent of the regulatory bodies. Penalties are
prescribed for non-compliance.
Besides these few other Acts are important when solving environment-related disputes
and allocating compensations:
The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 envisages mandatory insurance for the purpose
of giving immediate relief to the victim of an accident because of hazardous process and
operation. The Act introduces the principle of “no fault liability” for the owners: in case
of death or injury to any person or damage to any property because of an accident, the
owner is liable to give relief.
The National Environment Tribunal Act, 1996 provides strict liability for damages arising
out of any accident occurring while handling hazardous substance. The Act provides for
establishment of a National Tribunal to dispose-off the cases arising from such accidents.
The National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997 led to the establishment of to
the National Environment Appellate Authority which hears appeals with respect to
restrictions of areas in which any industry, operations or processes shall not be carried
out or shall be carried subject to certain safeguards. The Jurisdiction of the Authority is
restricted to cases where environmental clearance (will be discusses in more detail in next
chapter) is granted.
6.2 International Conventions

India has a signed a number of international conventions and treaties. The Ministry of
Environment and Forests is the nodal Ministry in the Government of India for all
Multilateral Environmental Agreements. These include along with others the
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance

• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer and Amendments
• UN Conventions on Biological Diversity
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• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

• UN Convention to Combat Desertification
• Kyoto Protocol
• the Basel Convention on Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Substances,
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (Signed in May, 2002 but to
be ratified by India)
• Rotterdam Conventions.
6.3 Operative Issues

6.3.1 Permissions Required
Industrial undertakings are free to select the location of a project in India. However, in
case of cities with population of more than one million (as per the 1991 census), the
proposed location should be at least 25 km away from the Standard Urban Area limits of
that city unless, it is to be located in an area designated as an "industrial area" before the
25th July, 1991. Currently there are 23 cities to which the restriction applies to.
Relaxation in the aforesaid locational restriction is possible if an industrial license is

obtained as per the notified procedure. Since 2002 most applications for industrial
licenses have been approved.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been and will continue to be the principal
methodology for appraising and reviewing new projects. It is an environmental clearance
that must be delivered to either national level or state level authorities in case of
practically every new project; expansion and modernization of an existing project; or
change in product mix in an existing manufacturing unit. Different projects are divided
into three categories “A”, “B” and “A/B” and the required clearance is determined by
the category. Detailed information on these categories and the environmental clearance
process can be found in Appendix 1.
The environmental clearance process consists of maximum of four stages: Screening,

Scoping, Public Consultation, and Appraisal. In particular cases not all of them are
required.
Screening refers to the definite assignment of environmental category to projects or

activities in respect of which an application is made for prior environmental clearance.
Scoping refers to the process by which the expert appraisal committees determine detailed
and comprehensive terms or reference addressing all relevant environmental concerns for
the preparation of an EIA report in respect of the project or activity for which prior
environmental clearance is sought.
Public Consultation refers to the process by which the concerns of local people and other
concerned persons with respect to the potential adverse environmental impacts of the
proposed project or activity are ascertained with a view to addressing the material
concerns in the EIA and in the Environment Management Plan.
Appraisal means the detailed scrutiny of the application and the EIA report submitted by
the applicant to the regulatory authority concerned, either by the national or state level
expert appraisal committee. On conclusion of this procedure, the authority involved shall
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make categorical recommendations to the regulatory authority concerned either for grant
of prior environmental clearance on stipulated terms and conditions, or rejection of the
application for prior environmental clearance, together with reasons for the same.
In general, a company aiming at getting an approval from the authorities concerned must
hand in an extensive report that covers important environment-related issues such as
land use, use of natural resources, use and handling of harmful substances or materials,
production of solid waste, release of pollutants, generation of noise and vibration, risk of
contamination of land or water and the risk of accidents. Environmental clearance for a
project can be valid for five to ten years.
The Government must grant or refuse the clearance within 105 days from the receipt of
the final environmental impact assessment.
6.3.2 Controlling Environmental Performance
The Ministry of Environment and Forests with its regional offices and representatives –
usually SPCBs – carry out random field visits to collect samples and data on the
environmental performance of the cleared projects. In cases of inadequate compliance,
the issue is taken up with the concerned State governments and nodal ministries. Due to
lacking environmental performance, some production plants have been shut down by the
government officials.
It is also mandatory for large industries to submit annual Environmental statement which
later on could be extended into environmental audit.
6.4 Environmental Standards

6.4.1 Standard Development
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is responsible for formulating and enforcing
standards for 14 sectors 3 . Standards are formulated through 14 Division Councils set up
to oversee standards in each of the sectors. On average, it takes between 12 and 28
months to issue a new standard or harmonize an existing national standard with an
international one. Some standards are fast tracked and developed within 12 months to
meet industry demands. Standards are also reviewed and updated on a regular basis;
reviews generally take place at least once in five years.
With a view to providing accreditation and labeling for household and other consumer
products which meet certain environmental criterion along with standard quality
requirements of the BIS for that product, a scheme for labeling of Environment Friendly
Products known as ECOMARK was launched in 1991. The scheme is voluntary. The
criteria are based on the cradle-to-grave approach or life cycle analysis. The ECOMARK-
standard development involves three organizations: An Inter-Ministerial Committee of
MoEF (determines the categories of products which need to be brought under the
3 These sectors are: Textiles and textile products; chemicals, chemical products and fibres; rubber and plastic products;
non-metallic mineral products; concrete, cement, lime, plaster, etc.; basic metals and fabricated metal products; machinery
and equipment; electrical and optical equipment; other transport equipment; wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor
vehicles, motorcycles, and personal and household goods; food products, beverages and tobacco; leather and leather
products; wood and wood products; pulp, paper and paper products; printing companies; manufacturing not elsewhere
classified; transport, storage and communication; other services; hotels and restaurants; electrical supply;
pharmaceuticals; manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products; and financial intermediation, real estate, renting
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Scheme and approves the criteria); Technical Committee of CPCB (develops the criteria
for each product category) and finally BIS (translates the specifications into Indian
Standards). The ECOMARK Scheme is not yet very popular amongst manufacturers.
Out of the 17 product categories for which criteria has been notified by the Ministry,
licenses for only three product categories have so far been obtained by 12 manufacturers.
Thus the scheme is being reviewed with a view to introduce necessary changes for its
revival keeping in view the procedures in other countries.
In addition to the standards developed by the BIS, these are sector-specific standards for
a few sectors including pollution. It is the Environment (Protection) Rules 1986 that
provide the framework for setting standards of emission or discharge of environmental
pollutants. The work is conducted by MoEF and CPCB. CPCB has expert-committees
working for various issues. Based on the work new standards are constantly introduced
for various sectors. Some of the most important ones are listed in the next chapter.
6.4.2 Most important environmental standards
Short descriptions of the most important environmental standards framed under

Environment (Protection) Rules are listed below:
• National Ambient Air Quality standards define the concentration of pollutants (such
as NO2, SO2 etc.) in ambient air. These standards also specify the methods of
measuring the pollutant in air.
• Water Quality Criteria classify water into six categories and give recommendations on
the usage of the water in each category. The critical values and qualities of water are
given in the criteria for all the categories.
• Industrial Specific standards are divided into three categories: Effluents, Emissions
and General Standards. Effluent and emission standards are set for every industry
separately. General standards specify discharging of environmental pollutants and
general emission standards in different kind of surroundings. Industrial Specific
standards are the most comprehensive set of standards.
• Ambient Air Quality standards in respect of noise divide areas into industrial,
commercial, residential and silence zones. Every zone has got noise limits. Source
Specific Noise standards set limits to generators, fire crackers and vehicles.
• Vehicular Emission standards define the Bharat stage emission norms (similar to
Euro I, II, III etc.) for passenger cars, heavy vehicles and two wheelers. Euro III was
introduced 2005 in 11 cities and it should be a countrywide standard in 2010.
• Fuel Quality specifications (solid and liquid) determine the ingredients of diesel and
gasoline.
6.4.3 Proposed standards
Standard formulation is a continuous process. At the moment the proposed and future
additions to the environmental standards developed by CPCB include Effluent and
Emission standards for petroleum oil refineries, Emission standards for sulphuric acid
plants and Emission standards for common hazardous waste incinerators. The entire list
of current and proposed standards is comprehensive and sector / industry specific – it
can be found from the webpage of the Central Pollution Control Board at
http://www.cpcb.nic.in/.
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There are also expert committees working for new topics. One of these is VOC emission
standards for industries.
6.5 Energy Efficiency

As per the estimates of Planning Commission, Government of India (GoI), to ensure a
sustained 8% growth of the economy, by 2031–32 India needs to increase its primary
energy supply by 3 to 4 times and its electricity generation by 5 to 6 times of the 2003–
04 levels. To limit the dependency on energy imports and contribute in meeting this
energy challenge, the GoI is now laying a lot of emphasis on energy efficiency and
demand side management. Today low energy prices for rural areas are subsidised by
higher prices for industry, damaging the latter’s competitive capacity. At the same time,
outdated industrial plants and processes are still widespread. Efforts are being made to
increase supply from renewable sources of energy and promote energy conservation in
various consumption sectors through appropriate policy interventions.
Energy conservation has emerged as a major policy objective, and the Energy
Conservation Act 2001, was passed by the Indian Parliament in September 2001. The
Act, which provides for the legal framework, institutional arrangement and a regulatory
mechanism at the Central and State level to embark upon energy efficiency drive in the
country, came into force 2002. This Act requires large energy consumers to adhere to
energy consumption norms; new buildings to follow the Energy Conservation Building
Code; and appliances to meet energy performance standards and to display energy
consumption labels. The Act also created the Bureau of Energy Efficiency to implement
the provisions of the Act.
The Act empowers the Central Government and, in some instances, State Governments
to:
• specify energy consumption standards for notified equipment and appliances

• direct mandatory display of label on notified equipment and appliances
• prohibit manufacture, sale, purchase and import of notified equipment and
appliances not conforming to energy consumption standards
• notify energy intensive industries, other establishments, and commercial buildings as
designated consumers
• establish and prescribe energy consumption norms and standards for designated
consumers
• prescribe energy conservation building codes for efficient use of energy and its
conservation in new commercial buildings having a connected load of 500 kW or a
contract demand of 600 kVA and above;
• direct energy intensive industries4 (defined as designated consumers) for instance to
• conduct energy audits
• comply with norms of energy consumption fixed.
Until now the Act has brought about few changes. The rules framed under the Act
mainly consider the functions of the BEE – not the industries. There is a lack of energy
auditors. The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was launched in May 2007.
Because of technical barriers (non-availability of energy efficient products and lack of
4 These include aluminium; fertilizers, steel; iron & steel; cement; chlor alkali; sugar; textile; chemicals; railways; port trust;
transport sector; petro chemicals; thermal power stations; commercial buildings and establishments
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skilled designers, constructors etc) and institutional barriers (supporting framework not
yet in place), the implementation of the Code in all the new commercial buildings is next
to impossible. Thus obtaining ECBC will remain as a voluntary action for the time being.
Also in terms of other actions aiming at energy efficiency like labelling, the focus has
been on capacity building and voluntary actions.
Apart from energy efficiency, renewable sources of energy are promoted actively: India
aims at filling 10 % of its power need from renewables by 2012.
6.6 Bio-Fuel Policy and Legislation

If environmental policies and laws are in place in general, those ones for bio-fuels are
not. There are number of ministries involved including
• Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD)

• Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)
• Department of Biotechology (DBT)
• Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG)
• Ministry of Small Scale and Village Industries
• Ministry of Commerce and Industry
• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
There isn’t enough clarity in their roles and responsibilities.
Government has introduced few policies addressing bio-fuels but as of now single policy
does not exist. The policies and their contents are discussed briefly below:
6.6.1 Bio-diesel Purchase Policy
To achieve the twin objectives of becoming a cost-competitive provider of bio-diesel the

world over as well as attain self sufficiency in energy, the Government of India initiated
the National Mission on Bio-diesel and declared the Bio-diesel Purchase Policy in 2005.
Under this purchase policy, Government of India targets to replace the 5 % of total High
Speed Diesel demand with bio-diesel by 2012. Public sector oil marketing companies will
purchase bio-diesel, meeting the Bureau of Indian Standard specifications through their
select purchase centers. At the moment the price set by the Bio-diesel Purcahse Policy is
less that the cost of production.
6.6.2 Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Program
The commercial production and marketing of ethanol-blended petrol started in January

2003, when the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched the first phase of the
program that mandated blending of five percent ethanol in gasoline in some states. The
Government announced the second phase of the EBP program that mandates five
percent blending of ethanol with petrol in September 2006. The program has started in
about 10 states. In other states the EBP program was not implemented due to high state
taxes, excise duties, and levies, which makes the ethanol supply for blending
commercially unviable. Once the second stage of the ethanol program extends to all
target states (20 altogether), the government plans to launch the third stage wherein the
ethanol blend ratio will be raised from five percent to ten percent.
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Overall, the Government is facing problems in implementation of the EBP. This is due
to shortage of raw-material, delay in issuance of the requisite gazette notification by state
governments, hurdles in free interstate movement of ethanol, resistance from industry
associations, delay in issue of excise permits etc.
Technical standards for bio-ethanol have been issued by BIS. These are also very difficult
to implement due to the resistance from auto manufacturers associations.
6.6.3 Proposed National Policy on Bio-fuels
The Government (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) has also prepares a National
Policy on Bio-fuels which is expected to lay the foundation for the accelerated
development of the sector. The areas likely to be covered therein are R&D, capacity
building, purchase policy and registration for enabling bio-fuel use. The policy will aim at
a short-term blending proportion of 5% by 2012, medium term of 10% by 2017 and a
long-term of above this beyond 2017. The policy would also recommend fixation of
minimum support price for non-edible oilseeds. The new policy also proposes setting up
a National Bio-fuel Development Board.
Recently the draft Policy has been sent to the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by the
agriculture minister for approval. After the approval by the GoM it will require an
approval from the Union Cabinet.
In terms of implementation, the bio-fuel programme in India is to be developed on

public-private partnerships which would promote bio-fuel plantations on government,
community and private lands.
6.7 Efficient Use of Materials

There are no basically no rules in place for efficient use of materials. Industries are
encouraged to do this, but regulations are not in place.
Recently the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a draft notification which
makes use of fly ash in building materials mandatory. Any person engaged in building
construction should henceforth use materials that are either wholly or partly composed
of fly ash. Every year about 65–75 million tonnes of fly ash remains unused .The
notification, expected to come into force in a year’s time, has also directed local bodies to
make necessary changes in their building rules to facilitate use of fly ash.
6.8 Chemicals
6.8.1 Domestic Rules
Prime drivers from framing the rules for management of chemicals have for instance
been Bhopal Gas Disaster in 1984, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 Multilateral
Environmental Agreements and Responsible Care and OHSAS 18001.
The industrial activities that are covered in the regulations are listed below:
• production, storages, use and import of the specified hazardous chemicals
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• chemical and petrochemical substances having hazardous (i.e. flammable, explosive,

corrosive, toxic) properties
• storage of hazardous chemicals not associated with processes.
Following are the most important rules concerning the management of chemicals:
The Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989 aim at
preventing major accidents arising from industrial activity; limiting the effects of such
accidents both on humans and the environment and harmonizing the various control
measures and the agencies to prevent and limit major accidents. The industrial activities
covered by the regulation are defined in terms of process and storage methods involving
specified hazardous chemicals. An important feature of the regulation is that the storage
of hazardous chemicals not associated with the process is treated differently from those
coming under process use for which a different list of hazardous chemicals and their
manufacture and storage procedures applies. Under the provisions isolated storage /
cover sites are to be separate tank farms or warehouses. The Central Pollution Control
Board and the State Pollution Control Board as the case may be, are the enforcement
agency for these storages
The Chemical Accident (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules, 1996
were framed as an offshoot of Bhopal Gas Disaster. Under this rule Crisis Groups at
Central Level, State Level, District Level and Local Level were formed. These groups
have the capabilities to act in case of an accident. They are also responsible for accident
prevention and training of industries.
Apart from the rules concerning directly the chemicals and chemical industry, there are
other Acts and Rules, for instance health and safety related, which are associated with the
sector:
• Factories Act, 1948, 1987

• Explosives Act, 1889
• Gas Cylinder Rules, 1981
• Petroleum Act, 1934 and Rules, 1976
• Motor Vehicle Act, 1988
• The Public Liability Insurance Act.
Many chemical units in India also follow the requirements of voluntary initiatives like
OSHAS (BSI 18001) and Responsible Care.
6.8.2 International Regulations
The new European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use Registration
Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) will affect the Indian chemical
industry which exports chemicals to many EU-countries. Currently, the hazardous
properties of existing substances towards both people and the environment have not
been documented. According to REACH, existing substances will have to be registered
during the ‘phase-in’ period of 11 years and a failure to do so will prohibit their
manufacture or import into the EU. This norm immediately affects about 750 Indian
chemicals exporters. To assist the Indian companies in the registration process, a separate
cell has been established under the Chemicals Export Promotion Council.
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Other major regulations that have an influence on the chemical industry are Basel
Convention, Rotterdam Convention and Stockholm Convention. Compliance to these
regulations demands the chemical companies to be more responsible in disposing
chemical wastes and also phasing out potentially hazardous chemicals. This will also
compel chemical companies to introduce ‘greener’ products, possible through committed
R&D efforts, which may be beyond the reach of many companies.
So far India has not ratified the Stockholm Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) treaty.
Because of pressure from Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association, India is yet to sign
a treaty into law.
6.9 Recycling and Waste Management

6.9.1 Waste Management
Municipal solid waste
There has been a significant increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in the
last few decades. Due to rapid urbanization and uncontrolled growth rate of population,
municipal solid waste management (MSWM) has become acute in India.
The Government has framed Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules
2000, under the Environmental Protection Act, 1986.
The Municipal Solid Waste Rules are as follows:
• Collection of municipal solid wastes – Required are organizing doorstep collection

of municipal solid waste from houses, hotels, restaurants, office complexes ad
commercial areas.
• Segregation of municipal solid wastes – Municipal authority shall organize awareness
programs for segregating the waste at source as dry and wet waste and promote
recycling or reuse of segregated materials.
• Storage of municipal solid wastes – Municipal authority shall establish and maintain
storage facilities such that wastes stored are not exposed to the open atmosphere and
shall be aesthetically acceptable and user friendly and it should have easy-to-operate
design for handling, transfer and transportation of waste.
• Transportation of municipal solid wastes – Vehicles used for transportation of
wastes shall be covered and waste should not be visible to public, nor exposed to the
open environment and shall be designed so that multiple handling of wastes prior to
final disposal, is avoided.
• Processing of municipal solid wastes – Municipal authorities shall adopt suitable
technology or combination of such technologies to make use of wastes so as to
minimize burden on landfill.
• Disposal of municipal solid waste – Land filling shall be restricted to non-
biodegradable, inert waste and other waste that are not suitable for recycling or for
biological processing. Land filling of mixed waste shall be avoided unless the same is
found unsuitable for waste processing.
Unfortunately implementation of these rules is far from complete. MSWM as an essential

service is still given low priority. Lack of financial resources, institutional weaknesses,
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improper choice of technology and public apathy towards MSW has made this service far
from satisfactory. The current practices of the uncontrolled dumping of waste on the
outskirts of towns and cities have created a serious environmental and public health
problem, endangering water quality.
Municipal corporations are primarily responsible for solid waste management and
municipal bodies render SWM services. Though it is an essential service, it is not
attaining the proper priority which it deserves, and services are poor. The municipalities
are trying to reinforce their available infrastructure for efficient MSW management and
ensure the scientific disposal of MSW by generating enough revenues either from
generators or by identifying activities that generate resources from waste management.
To tackle the problem, the MoEF has formulated a Scheme on Municipal Solid Waste
Management in 423 Tier-1 cities and other State Capitals not included in these as per
2001 census. The 12th Finance Commission has devolved Rs. 2500 crores (4.25 billion
€) during 2005–06 for providing appropriate Solid Waste Management system in all these
cities in the country which will be implemented by 2010.
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Industrial waste
Along with municipal solid waste, industrial waste is a huge problem. For example
according to the CPCB, an estimated quantum of 365 million litre and 149 million litre of
Industrial wastes are discharged everyday in Ganga and Yamuna rivers respectively by the
grossly polluting industries.
Industries are requited to set-up requisite pollution control facilities to comply with the
notified emission and effluent standards. Under Environment (Protection) Rules
standards for industrial waste have been set up. Common Effluent Plants (CETPs) have
been established for industry clusters in which the industries are supposed to treat certain
effluents.
Additionally, the Government is encouraging waste minimization through adoption of

clean technology, recycling and re-use of treated effluent. The Government has identified
the most polluting industries that discharging into rivers. Action has been taken against
the defaulting units as per the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Charter on
Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection (CREP) for 17 categories of
polluting industries has been adopted. This is being implemented through various task
forces.
The handling of industrial waste deemed as hazardous waste is discussed in the next
chapter.
Hazardous waste
Despite the central government’s attempts to establish hazardous waste treatment units
in all the states, the sector is dominated by the unorganized sector.
For the hazardous wastes, The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules,
1989, have been made.
Types of waste defined as hazardous waste are listed in a table below.

Table 2 Types of hazardous waste
Types of hazardous waste

Cyanide waste
Metal finishing, waste
Waste containing water soluble chemical compounds of lead, copper, zinc, chromium, nickel,
selenium, barium, and antimony
Mercury, Arsenic, Thallium and Cadmium-bearing wastes
Non-halogenated hydrocarbons including solvents
Halogenated hydrocarbons including solvents
Waste from paints, pigments, glue, varnish and printing ink
Wastes from dyes and dye-intermediates containing inorganic chemical compounds
Wastes from dyes and dye-intermediates containing organic chemical compounds
Waste oil and oil emulsions
Tarry wastes from refining and tar residues from distillation or pyrolytic treatment
Sludge arising from treatment of wastewaters containing heavy metals, toxic organics, oils
emulsion and spent chemicals and incineration ash
Phenols
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Asbestos
Wastes from manufacturing of pesticides and herbicides and residues from pesticides and
herbicides formulation units
Acids/ alkalies / slurry
Off-specification and discarded products
Discarded containers and container-liners of hazardous and toxic waste
The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules regulate collection, storage,
treatment, disposal and import of hazardous wastes. No hazardous wastes are allowed to
be imported in the country for dumping and disposal. However, such wastes which are
recyclable are permitted for import on, a case to cases basis, to the registered re-cycling
units. SPCBs are required to carry out inventory on Hazardous Waste (HW) generation
as per these rules, and the inventory reports on HW generation are required to be
submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
As an amendment to existing Rules, Draft Hazardous Materials (Management, Handling

and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2007 were published in September 2007. The
objective of these rules is to ensure environmentally sound management of all hazardous
materials; to review the rules published earlier and to enable recovery and/or use of
useful materials from hazardous waste destined for final disposal. Under these rules the
definition of hazardous waste is divided in to two definitions: hazardous waste and
hazardous material. Due to this the relaxation of the restrictions of transboundary
movement would take place, and for instance exports allowed. Regarding imports, it is
afraid that redefining "hazardous waste" as "hazardous material” will increase the imports
of the toxic waste to India substantially.
Bio-medical waste
For bio-medical waste there is a separate set of rules, The Bio-Medical Waste
(Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. According to these, the bio-medical waste
generated is required to be segregated, treated and disposed of. A number of hospitals,
more commonly smaller hospitals, however, are reported to have not been segregating
the bio-medical waste properly. Recently the government has taken a strong action
against this, and conducted inspections to hospitals.
E-waste
India is producing semi-conductors and mobile phones, manufacturing components, and

the computer sector is seeing a meteoric rise. Thus e-waste has become an acute problem
in the country: It is estimated that the country produced 330,000 tonnes of e-waste in
2007. The amount is expected to touch 470,000 tonnes by 2011. Apart from this, an
additional 50,000 tonnes is illegally imported into the country. The unorganized recycling
and backyard scrap-trading form close to 100 % of total e-waste processing activity in
India.
Despite the problem, the legislation for this is not fully in place. Hazardous Waste
(Management & Handling) Rules 1989 as amended in 2000 and 2003 under the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 include some definitions for e-waste. The Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has also formulated draft guidelines for environmentally
sound management of e-waste for the State Pollution Control Boards and Pollution
Control Committees of the Union Territories and the industries for handling E-waste. A
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Task Force has been constituted by the MoEF for finalization of these Guidelines. It is,
however, feared that mere guidelines are not enough to tackle e-waste problem.
6.9.2 Recycling
Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 state that is the
responsibility of the municipality to take care of the recycling. However, generally
municipalities do not have sufficient machinery in place to do this. According to
environment research institute TERI at least around 60–70 % of the recycling of the
municipal solid waste is done by the unorganized sector. Rag-pickers go through the
municipal solid waste and collect all the valuable materials like paper, metal scrap and
plastic and sell this further.
The Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Uses Rules, 1999

• Prohibit the usage of carry bags or containers made of recycled plastics for storing,
carrying dispensing or packaging of foodstuffs.
• Prescribe that the minimum thickness of carry bags made of recycled plastics shall
not be less than 20 microns.
• Direct the manufacturers of carry bags that the carry bags and containers shall be in
natural shape or white in colour.
• Stipulate that recycling of plastics shall be undertaken strictly in accordance with the
standards prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The manufacturers of
recycled plastics carry bags shall mark their products as ‘recycled’.
• Provides that the Plastics Industries Association through member units shall
undertake self-regulatory measures.
The Government is in process of identifying opportunities for utilization of Industrial

waste in the form recycle, reuse and recovery. Under the National Programme on energy
recovery from Urban & Industrial Waste Central financial Assistance is provided for
setting up of waste-to-energy projects.
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7 NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINNISH COMPANIES
As mentioned several times in this report, the Indian environmental laws are rather well
in place. The largest problem lies with implementation. The changes in the legislation will
only bring about the opportunities for Finnish companies when the implementation is
done properly.
Indian Government has realized the problem of implementation, and is trying to improve
to enforcement system of the rules. Supreme Court has – and will – intervene when
necessary. Old rules are being amended and new standards developed constantly. Some
of the rules and standards – and amendments for them – are included in the permit
system. Industries need the permits and thus they have to comply with standards. The
inspections to industrial units are conducted more frequently thee days. Central
Government is also putting increasingly pressure on municipalities for fulfilling their
responsibilities.
There are several opportunities in the field of environmental monitoring and measuring. Often
the implementation of these standards has been left half-way due to lack of know-how
on monitoring techniques and proper equipment. Vehicular air pollution control is the
special interest of Indian authorities, but there is also need for better industrial
monitoring for following up the performance of the polluting industries. Collecting basic
data on the current air pollution situation, building distribution models and on-line
monitoring of polluting industries – and facilitating later measures for improving the
current situation – offers diversified opportunities not only to Finnish technology
companies, but also to organizations and institutes with relevant capability in building up
larger air pollution management systems, reporting of monitoring, and training. CPCB is
constantly engaged in developing new standards 5 , but before enforcing those, both the
industries and government agencies should be in position to measure the performance.
Subsequently, the industries require a wide range of cleaner technologies to be able to meet
the standards.
Municipal solid waste management is an area that offers wide array of opportunities. There are
regulations for municipal solid waste management, which most the municipalities are not
able to fulfill partly due to the lack of financial resources and partly due to lack of know-
how and willingness. However, the public pressure alone will at some point force
municipalities to build up proper waste-management systems, and for this help from
outside is required. There is a need to find new technologies, or develop new, low-cost
technologies, applicable to Indian circumstances. Required are institutional strengthening
and training on SWM; engineering and consulting services; waste transportation systems;
treatment technologies; landfill site remediation etc. Good way to start the work in this
sector would be a pilot project covering the whole spectrum of waste management
activities within a certain municipality.
Apart from municipal solid waste, industrial waste management offers some opportunities for
Finnish players. Recently the government has started to take a strong action against those
5
For example at the moment CPCB is in process of formulating standards for VOC-emissions. Before it
makes sense to publish the standards, the current emission levels are to be known – industries have to
know how to measure their VOC-emissions.
© Finpro
- 32 -
industries discharging their waste without proper treatment. Highly polluting medium
and large scale industries like pulp and paper, steel, cement and the chemical industry,
which are facing serious problems in treating wastes and waste waters, can be seen as
potential targets for Finnish environmental companies. Cero-waste system should be
promoted.
Hazardous waste treatment is another interesting area. The Government had mandated the
states to set up hazardous waste treatment plants but until now very few have done so. In
future, a number of domestic treatment facilities are to be set up. The export for
hazardous waste abroad for a proper treatment will also be allowed in near future. There
is also an acute need for E-waste treatment facilities.
A law concerning energy efficiency is in place, but it until now it has brought about very little
changes. The focus is rather on voluntary actions than binding requirements. It will still
take some years before the law will mandate for energy efficiency. The same applies to
efficient use of materials. However, to save the costs industries are keen on finding
energy efficient solutions and learning about the efficient use of materials.
Renewable energy is of high priority in India since the government aims at generating 10 %
of the power from renewable sources by 2012 and 25 % by 2030. At the moment the
share is 7.4 % whereas in 2000 it was mere 1.2%. Keeping the rising energy requirements
in mind, the requirement for capacity increase from today to 2012 is significant. India
already has good domestic technologies for generating the energy from renewable
sources, but there is still space for foreign players. Areas of interest for instance include
e.g. bio-gas from landfills wind power, bio-mass and solar energy.
Government is trying to improve the enforcement of environmental legislations. This

change will provide Finnish companies with several opportunities. Apart from the
opportunities arising from the changes in legislations and improved implementation,
many opportunities for Finnish companies and technologies in India lie with the
companies that are willing to meet the international environmental quality standards.
Finally, it is good to note that India is the world leader in terms of number CDM
projects. The Government has proactive policy towards CDM. The potential to reduce
GHGs is enormous, mainly due to vast coal based electricity generation: It is estimated
that USD 5 billion can be generated from CDM projects by 2012. Finnish organizations
should also utilize CDM for the projects conducted in India.
© Finpro
- 33 -
8 CONCLUSIONS
India is at the moment one of the fastest growing countries in the world. The economic
growth has been above 7 % for many years. During the past couple of years the growth
has accelerated further and last year it was close to 10 %. This growth is also about to
continue in coming years.
It goes without saying that India is today facing the dilemma of combining fast economic
growth with sustainable development and environmental conservation. The process of
economic growth has been exerting increasing pressure on the ecological carrying
capacity of the country. There are alarming signs for the poor state of the environment
in many areas. The air quality in the major cities is poor; cities are drowning in waste;
toxic pollutant level in several cities generally exceeds the proposed guideline value;
ground water quality problem is a serious concern in many critically polluted and urban
areas; water quality standard is exceeded in several river stretches, and the list goes on.
Several instances have awakened in front of the fact that if something is not done
promptly, also the economic growth will be effected. Actually environmental concerns
have been taken into account already for some time now. The constitution of India is one
of the few constitutions of the world which contains provisions dealing with
environmental issues. An Environment Impact Statement for every project was made
mandatory from 1994. The Environment Protection Act was passed in 1986, creating the
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Apart from that the government has identified certain focus areas for environment
protection in the National State of the Environment (SoE) Report of India 2001 and in
the National Environment Policy (NEP) 2006. There are also signs for increased concern
about the environment amongst the public. The campaigns aiming at increasing the
environmental awareness are very common these days. New cities are being built in an
environmentally friendly way. Indian industries have internationalized quickly, and they
want to be in the line with their global competitors – also in terms of activities aiming at
environment protection. All these activities have started recently, thus the change is very
much possible.
Despite the efforts the environmental degradation continues. The environmental

legislation is rather well in place in India. The problem lies with implementation. Often
Supreme Court’s intervention is required for enforcing the rules. There are several
reasons for that. First, there is not too much faith in institutions and the corruption is
common. Second, the industries often have no means for fulfilling the requirements.
There is a lack of know-how, equipment and financial resources. Non-clarity of the
responsibilities of the government organizations is partly to be blamed for the problems
in implementation of the laws. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Central
Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards are all involved in
formulation, implementation and supervision of the legislation.
The first thing to do is to improve the enforcement mechanism. The changes in the
legislation will only bring about the opportunities for Finnish companies when the
implementation is done properly. Indian Government has realized the problem of
implementation, and is trying to improve to enforcement system of the rules. New rules
are also introduced regularly. The process is rather slow, though.
© Finpro
- 34 -
India is a huge country, and then opportunities exist basically in all the fields of the
environmental protection. Following are the areas which are of interest:
• Environmental monitoring and measuring

• Cleaner technologies
• Solid waste management
• Industrial waste management
• Hazardous waste management (incl. E-waste)
• Renewable energy.
Finland, as the least corrupted country in the world with functioning institutions and an
overall trust in those, could also provide Indian organizations with an institutional
strengthening and training.
Finally, it is to be stated that apart from the opportunities arising from the changes in
legislations and improved implementation, many opportunities for Finnish companies
and technologies in India lie with the companies that are willing to meet the international
environmental quality standards.
© Finpro
- 35 -

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Environmental Legislation in India

3 DEVELOPMENT TRENDS .......................................................................................... 11

7 NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINNISH COMPANIES ....................................... 32

Figure 1 Map of India ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Table 1 Main economic indicators ................................................................................................................. 10

Ulla Roiha, Finpro, Region Asia

Chapter 6 – Environmental Legislation – is rather an extensive overview to the

2.1 Key Facts

• Indian name: Bharat

Figure 1 Map of India

2.2 Political System

2.3 Governance structure

In 1992 constitutional amendments introduced a third tier of fiscal authority, giving

2.3.2 Governance at Central-level

• Rajya Sabha (Council of States)

2.3.3 Governance at State-level

2.4 Economic Situation

As a result of the growth, India has witnessed significant environmental degradation in

4 DRIVERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND

Sustaining the growth in long run

Global and local pressure

India is dependent on oil-imports. With increasing global oil prices, running

Proactive individuals and opinion leaders

5 FOCUS AREAS AND WEAK SIGNALS

• conservation of critical environmental resources

6.1 Legislative Environment

6.1.1 Administrative Issues

6.1.2 Problematic Implementation and Gaps

Despite the existence of a legal framework for environmental protection, environmental

6.1.3 Environment and Pollution Control Related Laws

The Environment (Protection) Act, consisting of 26 sections distributed in four chapters,

The concentration of powers in the central government is the hallmark of the

can, by notification in the official Gazette, introduce new environment-related standards,

Some of the important rules made under the Act include:

• The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986

• Emission Standards as per Air Act, 1981

• Incentives to Industries for Prevention and control of Pollution and Conservation of

6.2 International Conventions

• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance

• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

6.3 Operative Issues

Relaxation in the aforesaid locational restriction is possible if an industrial license is

The environmental clearance process consists of maximum of four stages: Screening,

Screening refers to the definite assignment of environmental category to projects or

6.3.2 Controlling Environmental Performance

6.4 Environmental Standards

6.4.2 Most important environmental standards

Short descriptions of the most important environmental standards framed under

6.4.3 Proposed standards

6.5 Energy Efficiency

• specify energy consumption standards for notified equipment and appliances

6.6 Bio-Fuel Policy and Legislation

• Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD)

There isn’t enough clarity in their roles and responsibilities.

6.6.1 Bio-diesel Purchase Policy

To achieve the twin objectives of becoming a cost-competitive provider of bio-diesel the

6.6.2 Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Program

The commercial production and marketing of ethanol-blended petrol started in January

6.6.3 Proposed National Policy on Bio-fuels

In terms of implementation, the bio-fuel programme in India is to be developed on

6.7 Efficient Use of Materials

• production, storages, use and import of the specified hazardous chemicals

• chemical and petrochemical substances having hazardous (i.e. flammable, explosive,