In 2015 Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MOEFCC) notified limits were introduced for SO2, NOx and mercury emissions for the first time and the existing PM emission limit was tightened. Power plants were expected to comply with the new norms by applying suitable measures, such as ESP upgrade, FGD installation, SNCR, SCR and/or combustion modifications for NOx control, with the combined effects of these measures acting to reduce mercury emissions, with a two-year time frame for compliance.

It also pushed the 2017 compliance deadline to 2022. This issue was raised in the Supreme Court of India, seeking a direction from the government to follow previous deadlines. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), a Supreme-Court- appointed committee for pollution control in the Delhi-National Capital Region (dissolved in April 2021), also recommended earlier implementation of the new norms – PM and NOx standards by 2018-19 and the SO2 limit by 2020, without any relaxation.

In July 2018, the Supreme Court of India rebuked the MOEFCC for its inability to enforce compliance with the 2015 standards. The MOEFCC, the MOP, and the CEA asked the Supreme Court for a further extension, to December 2024, pointing to the inability of power plants to allocate the required capital and operating expenditures within the previous time frame, as well as the lack of available space, water, and necessary raw materials. The Supreme Court granted a five-year extension of the deadline to December 2022.

In January 2019, India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) announced a reduction target of 20% for PM2.5 and 30% for PM10 in ambient air by 2024 relative to 2017 as the base year, with the contribution of the coal-fired power sector, thanks to the new limits, expected to be significant. Unfortunately, this was not to be, and the new norms did not help.

In January 2021, the MOP proposed a stepwise FGD implementation schedule (to MOEFCC), with priority given to the power plants in the low ambient air quality areas, highlighting considerations such as shortages of equipment available on the market, increasing imports instead of indigenous manufacturing, the price burden on utilities and consumers, and possible loss of opportunities to develop national resources and foster Indian skilled manpower. This stepwise FGD implementation timetable based on the categorisation of power plants was adopted in 2021, pushing the compliance deadline from December 2022 to December 2025. The deadline for compliance with the new limits of December 2025 remains in force.

Unfortunately, the lack of consultation, planning and timely follow- up by the government dealt a severe blow to this initiative and, as the deadline approached, the new rules became embroiled in rounds of debate and delaying and derailing tactics by the industry lobby – so much so that the new norms have yet to be widely implemented.  New norms: Dragged, Diluted, Delayed. Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems at coal-fired power plants in India can only assist in bringing about these improvements. Accurate and reliable emissions data for each coal-fired plant is therefore of the utmost importance and, here, correct implementation of real-time pollution monitoring is needed, in place of manipulated, or estimated data, as a basis for sound policymaking and the taking of appropriate corrective actions.