The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas on Friday said it has directed States in the region to adopt a standard list of non-polluting fuels, which will come into full force from January 1, 2023.

The move is aimed at abating air pollution from emissions arising out of polluting fuels being used for various industrial, vehicular, domestic and miscellaneous purposes in the NCR.

The central government, State governments in the NCR and government of national capital territory of Delhi (GNCTD) have been continually making efforts to move towards use of cleaner fuels to improve the overall air quality of the region, CAQM said in a statement.

The standard list of approved fuels shall come in force from October 1, 2022 for areas where piped natural gas (PNG) infrastructure and supply is already available and from January 1, 2023 for other areas. In effect, the approved fuel list shall be completely in force in the entire NCR from January 2023, it added.

“Air pollution is a matter of grave concern across NCR and particularly from the standpoint of a common airshed approach, it is essential to have a standard list of approved fuels for various applications across all sectors in the entire NCR to achieve improved air quality in the National Capital Region,” CAQM pointed out.

This direction has been issued considering the need to optimally balance the imperatives of sustainability of operations as also the emissions from use of various types/ categories of fuels that have a direct bearing on the air quality, it added.

Standard List

The list of approved fuels in NCR includes Petrol and diesel (BS VI with 10 ppm Sulphur) , Hydrogen/ Methane, Natural Gas, Liquified Petroleum Gas /Propane/ Butane and Electricity. These fuels are for vehicular, industrial and domestic purposes.

Exceptions

Coal with low Sulphur shall be permitted as fuel only in Thermal Power Plants (TPPs). Besides, specific requirements of any other fuel, other than in the lists above, by a class or category of industries and other entities, owing to technical, technological and/ or process requirements, shall be considered by CAQM on merits.

All other fuels will be deemed as unapproved in NCR. The matter related to use of clean fuels for industrial applications has also been deliberated extensively in the CAQM repeatedly and shifting of industries to PNG/ cleaner fuels has been a priority area for the commission, CAQM said.

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