India, Dec. 4 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
In order to rationalize the green belt requirement based on pollution potential, the Ministry in its OM dated 29.10.2025 has directed that the revised criteria for developing green belt/green cover for Industrial Estates/Parks and individual industries may be adhered to in supersession of the OM dated 27th October, 2020.
There was a need to strike a balance between the requirement of land for the Projects/Activities and the environmental needs of the green belt along with the existing pollution control and abatement measures prescribed under the general and specific conditions forming part of the prior Environmental Clearance issued in accordance with the provisions of EIA Notification 2006 as amended, so as to optimize the use of available land.
Therefore, it was decided to rationalize the green belt requirement based on pollution potential. The rationalization of green belt/green cover was done based on the recommendations of a Committee, which was, inter alia, based on examining various International norms for developing green belt/green cover.
The rationale for the revised green belt/green cover norms is that industries with higher pollution potential such as red category industries and orange category industries need to develop more percentage of green belt in order to mitigate the pollution that emerges from the industrial activity. The revised criteria has been developed based on scientific examination by an expert committee and factors pollution potential while prescribing green belt/green cover requirement.
This information was provided by UNION MINISTER OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE, SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
