Government introduces penalty for non-compliance of fly ash utilisation

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has issued a notification on ash utilisation from coal or lignite thermal power plants (TPPs) to ensure 100 per cent utilisation of ash generated by it during that year in an eco-friendly manner. The TPPs will achieve average ash utilisation of 100 per cent in a three-year cycle. The ministry has given a window of 10 years to TPPs for progressively utilising legacy ash (unutilised accum­u­lated ash). The obligations will be applicable from April 1, 2022. Under the new rules, if the TPP does not achieve at least 80 per cent ash utilisation, then it will have to pay an environmental compensation of Rs 1,000 per tonne on unutilised ash at the end of every financial year. The amount collected by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) from the TPPs will be used towards the safe disposal of the unutilised ash or for advancing re­search on the use of ash including ash-based products.