Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, which houses the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Photo: Facebook/@moefcc
The environment ministry has amended the rules to allow industrial units to use a single application to obtain permits under the Air and Water Act along with permits under various waste management rules.
According to the ministry, the integrated consents will reportedly reduce multiple applications, reduce approval times while maintaining strict provisions for monitoring, compliance and cancellation. Such applications are usually made to State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs).
“The amendments aim to ensure faster, clearer and more efficient approval processes while maintaining environmental safeguards, while supporting the SPCB and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) in processing consent applications and carrying out inspections. They also remove uncertainty and operational disruption due to delays in renewal of operational consent,” the environment ministry said in a statement.
From this moment on, the validity of the Consent to Operation remains valid until it is cancelled. Earlier, regular approvals were required to keep the industrial unit running.
Regular checks
Environmental compliance will continue to be enforced through regular inspections and consent may be revoked in the event of a breach. “This removes the need for repeated renewals, reduces paperwork, burden on industry and ensures continuity of industrial operations. Further, the approval processing time for red category industries has been reduced from 120 to 90 days.” The red category is the industries that release the most toxic emissions.
To further expedite processing, the amended guidelines allow Registered Environmental Auditors certified under the Environmental Audit Rules 2025 to conduct on-site visits and verify compliance in addition to inspections by SPCB staff. This strengthens verification while allowing (state) boards to focus more on high-risk industries and enforcement, the statement added.
Special provisions have been introduced for micro and small enterprises located in notified industrial estates or areas. For such units, consent to establish is deemed to have been granted after the submission of the own certified application, as the land has already been assessed from an environmental point of view.
Published – 28 Jan 2026 20:14 IST
