Overview

• A July 11 gazette notification frees 79% of coal units outside a 10 km radius of million-plus cities from FGD retrofitting, mandates 10% of urban-adjacent plants to install systems by December 2027 and assigns 11% to expert review.
• The ministry cites a CPCB study showing increased CO₂ emissions from operating FGD systems and independent findings that ambient SO₂ levels remain well below national standards given low-sulphur domestic coal and tall stacks.
• State-run NTPC and other early adopters have already invested about $4 billion fitting FGDs on 11% of capacity, yet the notification offers no framework for cost recovery or compensation.
• Officials estimate that relaxing the universal retrofit will cut electricity tariffs by 25–30 paise per unit and relieve subsidy pressures on cash-strapped state utilities.
• In the MC Mehta vs Union case, the ministry will file an affidavit defending the policy as an evidence-based recalibration rather than a rollback.