Two steps back on cleaner power
Net-zero targets announced by leading economies of the world has upped the ante for India, one of the largest absolute greenhouse gas emitters, on similar climate action. Indeed, it was expected that climate crusader & US special envoy John Kerry, on a visit to India, would urge the leadership at the Centre on this; however, Kerry has clarified that though India pledging a ‘net-zero’ commitment was not an “absolute requirement”, the country was doing all that it could to get there.
Contrast Kerry’s faith with the fact that, on April 1, the government notified the Environment Protection (Amendment) Rules that push the deadline for GHG-emitting coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs) on compliance with the emission norms. The norms were announced in 2015, with a 2017 adoption projected at the time.
But, litigatory interventions meant the deadline got pushed several times, getting set at 2022 in the last such instance. With mere months to the deadline and only a third of the TPPs having undertaken meaningful steps for compliance, the government has again pushed the deadline—to 2024-2025 in some cases.
As per the new amended Rules, TPPs will be classified as Category A (within a 10-km radius of NCR or cities with a 1-million-plus population), Category B (within 10-km radius of critically polluted areas and ‘non-attainment’ cities as defined by the Central Pollution Control Board) and Category C (comprising remaining TPPs).
While Category A TPPs, both retiring and non-retiring, have a end-2022 deadline, non-retiring Category B TPPs have been allowed time till end-2023 and non-retiring Category C ones, till 2024; retiring B&C TPPs must comply by end-2025—if a TPP gives an undertaking to retire before the applicable deadline is up, then it is exempted from compliance.
Repeated extension of the deadline is indeed a major issue—compliance has been pushed back by two-three years for nearly three-quarters of the TPPs (Category B & C) in India. It isn’t hard to imagine the implications for India’s emissions
