India Reverses Key Policy, Exempting Most Coal-fired Power Plants from Emission Rules
Air Pollution 16/07/2025 •
Most coal-fired power plants in India are now exempt from installing technology to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions.

NEW DELHI – On 11 July, the Indian government changed its own rules, exempting most coal-fired power plants from installing technology to reduce sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. 

This reverses a key environmental policy launched in 2015 to cut SO2 emissions. It means that about 78% of India’s 537 or so thermal power plant units do not have to install machinery to reduce SO2 emissions called Flue Gas Desulfurization systems (FDGs).

India is the largest SO2 emitter, mostly from such plants. The gas is an air pollutant linked to respiratory disorders and other health impacts, as well as ecological impacts such as acid rain. 

While the move has been questioned by experts, the government has hit back by denying that it is reversing the policy.

In an X post, India’s environment ministry described criticism of the change as a “gross misinterpretation”, adding: “The revised sulphur dioxide emission policy is not a rollback” and that it remains “fully committed” to science-based air quality management:

Referring to an unnamed media report, the ministry added that it is “not aligned with empirical evidence, exaggerates the health and air quality impacts of sulphur dioxide, and underestimates the trade-offs of large-scale FGD implementation.”

However, the near-total reversal of the policy “weakens pollution control efforts and endangers public health,” according to the Centre for Science and Environment, an environmental think tank.

The new policy divides the thermal power plants into three categories. Of the 537 units which were supposed to get FGDs, now only 65 units (12%) must have these in category A. 

In the case of a further 66 units, category B,  officials will determine on a case-by-case basis whether they need to install FGDs . The remaining 406 units, category C,  are now exempted. 

This categorisation can be problematic. Similar pollution sources now have “different” environmental standards within India, points out an editorial in The Hindu newspaper. When the emission cuts were ordered in 2015, there was no such differentiation. All coal-fired power plants had to implement it. 

Herein, researchers point out, lies another significant dilution. Of the 36 coal-fired power units around Delhi, many have been shut down in the past during peak pollution times. However, 22 of them are now exempt from installing FGDs. 

 

Delays, postponement and now reversal

In 2015, shortly after the landmark Paris Conference on climate, India ordered all thermal power plants to reduce their sulphur dioxide emissions within two years. This was to be mainly done by installing FGD units in old and new plants. 

The policy’s clear goal was to curb air pollution. In 2014, Delhi replaced Beijing as the world’s most polluted city, a shock to many in India. 

But within two years, the pushback from India’s power ministry and various power firms began. Then the reasons ranged from the likelihood of increased costs to consumers, cost effectiveness as there were few FGD vendors in India, and, after 2020, disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The highest costs for implementation would be borne by privately owned plants (over 45%), followed by state-owned (32%), and centrally-owned plants (24%), a study at the time estimated. 

The ten years of delays, postponements and finally the reversal of 2015 policy.

Government’s rationale for reversal

The decision has been a long time in coming. Over the past year and more, government-backed institutes of science have produced reports contending that there is no “notable” difference in ambient air SO2 concentrations between cities which have thermal power plants (TPPs) with the emission-reducing FGDs, and those cities where TPPs don’t have this. 

The rationale includes that most of the coal used has low sulphur content, that SO2 emissions are well within Indian air quality standards because of mandatory height of smokestacks (220 metres) and “Indian climatic conditions,” and that acid rain was not a significant issue.

By numbers: Lives and money

The government says sulphates (what SO2 turns into in the atmosphere) contribute only 0.96% to 5.21% of PM 2.5 in cities near TPPs. However, researchers point out that this approach is selective at best both in terms of the number of cities covered and the time period for the testing. 

“As highlighted, the estimated 5% sulfate contribution, derived from data in 18 non-attainment cities, may not fully represent the national air quality scenario. Limitations such as the short three-month sampling period and exclusion of rural areas suggest the need for broader, year-round assessments to inform effective policy,” points out Dr Manoj Kumar, analyst at Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Other studies have shown that pollution from burning coal can contribute between 15% to 20% of India’s PM2.5. 

If FGDs are installed in all coal-fired power plants throughout the country, this could reduce PM2.5 by 8%, says a paper by authors from Harvard and IIT Hyderabad. This would significantly reduce the gap between India’s annual PM2.5 average of 50.6 micrograms/m3 last year and the national acceptable standard of 40. The study estimates that near the coal-fired power plants, PM2.5 pollution would be reduced by 7-28%, and potentially avoid 48,000 premature deaths. 

FGD benefits are worth four times the investment

Since the environment ministry says it has weighed fresh scientific evidence versus the economics of imposing standards, it is useful to look at the numbers. 

Installing FGDs across the country would cost over INR 2,540 billion ($29,5 billion), the government has stated. But doing so would benefit India by an estimated INR 9,622 billion ($112 billion). This means for every rupee invested, the benefit could be about INR 3.79, a return of almost four times. 

Over 90% of that is from preventing premature deaths by 2030. Ironically, this was in a 2018 study, by Bengaluru-based CSTEP, done on the premise that the rollout, not rollback – would be done by this year 2025!

Benefits to India’s GDP after a full rollout of FGD are approximately $18.1–$604 billion per year, which is equivalent to ~ 0.44 to 10% of India’s GDP, according to the IIT-Hyderabad and Harvard study. 

However, the ministry posted that the July 11 decision reversing the requirement weighs the “disproportionate resource and environmental costs of indiscriminate FGD mandates.” 

SO2 emissions: India up 50%, China down 75%

Since the early 2000s, China has reduced its SO2 emissions by 75%, whereas India’s emissions grew by 50% during the same time, according to NASA analysis. This has been attributed to strict policies and pollution control measures by Beijing. 

Source: Newslaundry, Centre for Research on Clean Energy and Air (CREA)

SO2 is not typically a greenhouse gas. On the contrary, it can block some of the sunlight and cause a cooling effect. But this is a short-term outcome and blurs the effects of rising global warming. However, this was cited by India’s Power Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar. 

“The sulphate aerosols from these coal plants aren’t to the extent that they affect human health…it is less than 5%. On the contrary, it is necessary that some of it remain in the atmosphere. If it is too less, it can increase warming,” Khattar said.

While the environment ministry did not echo this in its rebuttal post on X, it described the new regulation as climate coherent. One of the government’s arguments has been that FGD technology would increase carbon emissions. However, researchers say this is marginal, benefits outweigh the climate cost, and that this amount would anyway be exceeded by India’s increasing coal consumption. 

Image Credits: Ella Ivanescu/ Unsplash.

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