MoEFCC revises the list of White Category industries exempt from obtaining prior permissions for establishing industrial plant

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (“MoEFCC”) has issued notifications dated 17^th October 2025 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, to further revise the existing White Category list of industrial sectors which are exempted from obtaining prior consent or permission of State Pollution Control Boards or Pollution Control Committees for establishing industrial plants.

Key Highlights:

1. The updated White Category list now includes 86 sectors, reorganizing previously exempted sectors and introducing additional industrial plants or sectors.
2. New additions include sectors such as:
   1. Standalone production of concrete admixtures up to 1000 MT/month (without boiler or wastewater generation)
   2. Hydrogen production through electrolysis using renewable energy within end-user industrial premises
   3. Compressed Bio-Gas plants utilizing non-industrial feedstocks and producing Fermented Organic Manure (FOM) or Liquid FOM without wastewater discharge
   4. Bakery, confectionery, and sweets production units having capacity more than 0.5 Tonnes Per Day (TPD) but less than 1 TPD, using only cleaner fuels -electricity or gaseous fuel and with having permission to discharge in municipal sewerage system connected to terminal Sewage Treatment Plant (STP)
   5. Digital Printing on flex or vinyl, PVC etc. (less than 5 machines)

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Source: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change