Coal use will be banned in NCR from Jan 2023

For regions where infrastructure for and supply of piped natural gas (PNG) is already available, the ban on the use of coal will come into force from October 1, 2022, the CAQM said in a statement Wednesday.

“As the concerns of air pollution are uniform across the NCR and from the standpoint of a common airshed approach for the entire NCR and adjoining areas, it was decided by the Commission to phase out use of coal as a fuel from entire NCR in industrial, domestic and miscellaneous applications (barring the use of low sulphur coal only in thermal power plants), towards aiming for an overall improved air quality in the region,” said a release from the CAQM.

Around 1.7 million tonnes of coal is used annually in industries in the NCR, according to CAQM. The commission has issued multiple directions to the state governments in the NCR asking industries to switch to PNG.

In a directive issued in February this year, the CAQM had noted that a majority of industries in the NCR are still not operating on PNG or “cleaner fuels”, despite availability of natural gas infrastructure and supply. Such industries in the NCR were then directed to completely switch over to PNG or biomass fuels by September 30 this year, or face closure. On December 7 last year, the CAQM had ordered the closure of those industries which had failed to switch to use of PNG despite supply being available, till December 12. With air quality having deteriorated last winter, the commission had also restricted the timing of operation of industries not running on PNG to eight hours a day for five days a week.

Industries in Delhi are permitted to run only on PNG or electricity. According to the Delhi government, all 1,607 registered industrial units in the NCR have switched to PNG.

In August last year, the CAQM had noted that 408 industrial units out of 1,469 identified for shifting to gas have made the switch in the NCR districts of Haryana. In the NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh, 1,161 industrial units out of 2,273 had shifted to gas, while 124 units out of 436 in the NCR area of Rajasthan had shifted to gas. The state governments were directed to prepare an action plan with a timeline for switching all identified industrial units to PNG, along with a plan to ensure infrastructure and supply of PNG where it is not available.