Commission for Air Quality Management extends PM emission compliance deadline, industrialists get 2-month relief

Giving relief to industries operating in the NCR region, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has extended the deadline for industries to comply with the revised particulate matter (PM) emission standards. Rice millers, exporters and industrialists got additional two months time for the compliance of these norms.

This decision has come after a joint delegation of the Haryana Rice Exporters’ Association (HREA), Haryana Chamber of Commerce & Industry (HCCI), and Karnal Rice Millers and Dealers Association met Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav last week.

Earlier, they had a meeting with the Union Minister for Power, Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana Assembly Speaker Harvinder Kalyan, Karnal MLA Jagmohan Anand, highlighting the challenges being faced by them in implementing the new norms including high cost of installing Air Pollution Control Devices (APCDs), delays in the supply of pollution control equipment, limited availability of technical agencies to carry out adequacy assessments, and a shortage of approved laboratories for testing and certification.

These issues made it difficult for many industries to complete the required upgrades within the original deadline.

The CAQM in its earlier order on February 20, 2026, reduced the PM emission limit to 50 mg/Nm³ from 80 mg/Nm³ for industries to reduce air pollution and improve the region’s air quality. Medium and large industries were earlier required to meet the revised standard from August 1, 2026, while the remaining covered industries were already scheduled to comply from October 1, 2026.

Now, in the fresh order, the Commission has fixed October 1, 2026, as the common compliance date for all industries covered under the revised norms, said the order. However, the industrialists had demanded an extension of compliance timelines until March 31, 2027, for the installation of Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS), PTZ cameras, and stack emission monitoring facilities along with ensuring PM emission limit to 50 mg/Nm³.

The industrialists expressed gratitude to Union Ministers Khattar, Yadav, Assembly Speaker Kalyan, Karnal MLA Anand, for their support in addressing the industries’ concerns.

“We are grateful to Union Ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Bhupender Yadav, Assembly Speaker Harvinder Kalyan, our MLA Jagmohan Anand for raising our concerns with the concerned authorities and providing us relief,” said Sushil Jain, president HREA.

However, some industrialists still feel that such stringent rules will discourage the setting up of industries in NCR in Haryana.