It is time to rejoice for SMEs related to cotton and woolen hosiery, wind power, solar power, handloom weaving, toys, air coolers, etc as government has kept these industries in white category so that there is no need to take environmental clearance from government for such industries. A new category of 36 industries, which have ‘no pollution index’, have been kept in the white category.

“The new category of white industries, which is practically non-polluting, will not require environmental clearance (EC) and consent. This is a landmark decision to give a fair picture of the industries,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said after releasing the new categorization of industries.

In a major step towards ‘ease of doing business’, government has re-classified industries in four colour scheme- Red, Green, Orange and White. Under the new categorization, the most polluting industry will fall under Red color and industries which moderately pollute will be under orange.

Industries that have low pollution will be considered as green category and the industries which emit no pollution will be classified as white category.

The new system is based on the pollution index. Pollution Index ranges from 0 to 100 where a higher number indicates higher pollution load from the industrial sector. The index is derived from the quantity of emissions (contamination of air), effluents (water pollution), hazardous wastes generated and consumption of resources by an industry.

“The new system of re-categorization is based on an elaborate scientific exercise. The new categories will remove this lacuna and will give clear picture to everyone” Javadekar added.

The Environment Ministry said that 60 industries, including pesticides, oil refinery, sugar, thermal power plants etc which have a pollution index score of 60 and above, will be placed under red category. 83 industries like automobile servicing, Hotels and restaurants etc which ranges between 41 and 59 will be in the orange category.

Similarly, 63 industries like dal and flour mills, polythene and plastic products, marble stone and Oil and gas transportation pipeline etc which have a pollution index score between 21 and 40, have been kept in the green category and further 36 industries which have no pollution index will be considered in white category.

The new scheme may compel industries to adopt a cleaner technology and it will also help to get fund as there will not be any restriction for businesses. It will ensure smooth business with vying all environmental issues.

Table 1: List of Red Category of Industries

Sl No.	Industry Sector	Sl No.	Industry Sector
1	Isolated storage of hazardous chemicals	39	Yarn / Textile processing
2	Automobile Manufacturing (integrated)	40	Chlor Alkali
3	Hazardous waste recycling (Spent cleared metal catalyst )	41	Ship Breaking
4	Lubricating oils and grease mfg.	42	Oil and gas extraction
5	DG Set (> 5 MVA)	43	Metal surface treatment
6	Carbon black & allied	44	Tanneries
7	Lead acid battery	45	Ports /harbor/jetties
8	Phosphate rock processing	46	Synthetic fibers
9	Power generation plant	47	Thermal Power Plants
10	Hazardous Waste Recyclers (Spent catalyst)	48	Slaughter house
11	Chlorinated hydrocarbons	49	Aluminium Smelter
12	Sugar	50	Copper Smelter
13	Fibre glass production	51	Fertilizer (basic)
14	Fire crackers	52	Integrated Iron & Steel
15	E-Waste Recyclers	53	Pulp & Paper ( bleaching)
15	Milk and dairy products	54	Zinc Smelter
17	Phosphorous	55	Oil Refinery
18	Pulp & Paper	56	Petrochemicals
19	Coke making	57	Pharmaceuticals
20	Explosives / detonators	58	Pulp & Paper ( Large-Agro + wood),
21	Paints varnishes, pigments	59	Distillery
22	Organic Chemicals	60	Railway locomotive work shop/ service centers
23	Airports and Commercial Air Strips
24	Asbestos
25	Basic chemicals
26	Cement
27	Chlorates, per-chlorates & peroxides
28	Chlorine, fluorine, bromine, iodine
29	Dyes and Dye- Intermediates
30	Health-care Establishment
31	Hotels (Big)
32	Lead acid battery -recyclers
33	Waste electrical and electronic recyclers
34	Glue and gelatin
35	Mining and ore beneficiation
36	Nuclear power plant
37	Pesticides
38	Photographic film /chemicals

Table 2: List of Orange Category of Industries

Sl. No.	Industry Sector	Sl. No.	Industry Sector
1	Almirah, Grill Manufacturing	43	Large Cotton spinning and weaving
2	Aluminium & copper extraction from scrap	44	Lime manufacturing (using lime kiln)
3	Automobile servicing, repairing	45	Liquid floor cleaner, black phenyl
4	Ayurvedic and homeopathic medicine	46	Manufacturing of glass
5	Brickfields	47	Manufacturing of mirror from sheet glass
6	Building and construction >20,000 sq. m	48	Manufacturing of mosquito repellent coil
7	Cashew nut processing	49	Manufacturing of Starch/Sago
8	Ceramics and Refractories	50	Mechanized laundry using oil fired boiler
9	Chanachur and ladoo using husk fired oven	51	Medium scale Hotels
10	Coal washeries	52	Modular wooden furniture
11	Coated electrode	53	New highway construction project
12	Coffee seed processing	54	Non-alcoholic beverages(soft drink)
13	Compact disc computer floppy	55	Paint blending and mixing (Ball mill)
14	Copper waste recyclers	56	Paints and varnishes (mixing and blending)
15	Dairy and dairy products ( small scale)	57	Parboiled Rice Mills
16	DG set ( >1MVA but < 5MVA)	58	Pharmaceutical formulation
17	Dismantling of rolling stocks	59	Ply-board manufacturing
18	Dry cell battery	60	Potable alcohol ( IMFL) by blending
19	Dry coal / mineral processing	61	Printing ink manufacturing
20	Fermentation (Extra Neutral Alcohol)	62	Printing or etching of glass sheet
21	Ferrous and Non- ferrous metal extraction	63	Printing press
22	Fertilizer (granulation / formulation / blending	64	Producer gas plant
23	Fish feed, poultry feed and cattle feed	65	Recyclers – used oils
24	Fish processing and packing	66	REcyclers – waste oils
25	Flakes from rejected PET bottle	67	Recycling – Paint and ink Sludge
26	Foam manufacturing	68	Reprocessing of waste plastic /PVC
27	Food and food processing	69	Rolling mill (oil or coal fired)
28	Forging of ferrous and non- ferrous	70	Silica gel
29	Formulation/pelletization of camphor tablets etc.	71	Silk /saree screen printing
30	Glass ceramics, earthen potteries and tile	72	Spray painting
31	Gravure printing, digital printing on flex, v	73	Steel and steel products with furnaces
32	Heat treatment using oil fired furnace	74	Stone crushers
33	Hot mix plants	75	Surgical and medical products (latex)
34	Ice cream	76	Synthetic detergents and soaps
35	Industry or processes involving foundry operations	77	Synthetic resins
36	Iodized salt from crude/ raw salt	78	Synthetic rubber excluding molding
37	Jute processing without dyeing	79	Tephlon based products
38	large Bakery and confectionery	80	Thermocol manufacturing ( with boiler)
39	Transformer repairing/ manufacturing	81	Thermometer
40	Tyres and tubes vulcanization/ hot retread	82	Tobacco products including cigarettes
41	Vegetable oil manufacturing	83	Tooth powder, toothpaste, talcum powder
42	Wire drawing and wire netting

Table 3: List of Green category of Industries

Sl. No.	Industry Sector	Sl. No.	Industry Sector
1	Aluminium utensils	36	Ready mix cement concrete
2	Ayurvedic medicines	37	Reprocessing of waste cotton
3	Small Bakery /confectionery	38	Rice mill (Rice hullers only)
4	PP film	39	Rolling mill ( gas fired) and cold rolling mill
5	Biomass briquettes	40	Rubber goods (gas operated baby boiler)
6	Melamine resins	41	Saw mills
7	Brass and bell metal utensils	42	Soap manufacturing
8	Candy	43	Spice Blending
9	Cardboard / corrugated box	44	Spice grinding
10	Carpentry & wooden furniture	45	Steel furniture
11	Cement products	46	Grains processing
12	Ceramic colour by mixing	47	Tyres /tube retreating
13	Chilling plant and ice making	48	Chilling /ice plant
14	Coke briquetting	49	CO2 recovery
15	Small Cotton spinning and weaving	50	Distilled water
16	Dal Mills	51	Small Hotels
17	Decoration of ceramic cups	52	Optical lenses
18	Digital printing on PVC clothes	53	Mineralized water
19	Handling, storage of food grains	54	Tamarind powder
20	Flour mills	55	Marble stone
21	Electrical Glass , ceramic, earthen potteries	56	Emery powder
22	Glue from starch	57	Flyash export
23	Gold and silver smithy	58	Mineral stack yard
24	Non-polluting Heat treatment	59	Oil and gas transportation pipeline
25	Insulation /coated papers	60	Seasoning of wood
26	Leather foot wear /products	61	Synthetic detergent
27	Blending of Lubricating oil, greases	62	Tea processing
28	Pasted veneers	63	Pulverization of bamboo
29	Oil mill Ghani
30	Packing materials
31	Phenyl/toilet cleaner
32	Polythene and plastic products
33	Poultry, Hatchery and Piggery
34	Power looms (without dye and bleaching)
35	Puffed rice (muri) (gas or electrical heating)

Table 4: List of White category of Industries

Sl. No.	Industry Sector
1.	Air coolers /conditioners
2.	Bicycles ,baby carriages
3.	Bailing of waste papers
4.	Bio fertilizer /bio-pesticides
5.	Biscuits trays
6.	Blending / packing of tea
7.	Block making of printing
8.	Chalk making
9.	Compressed oxygen gas
10.	Cotton and woolen hosiers
11.	Diesel pump repairing
12.	Electric lamp ( bulb) and CFL
13.	Electrical and electronic item
14.	Engineering and fabrication units
15.	Flavoured betel nuts
16.	Fly ash bricks/ block
17.	Fountain pen
18.	Glass ampules
19.	Glass putty and sealant
20.	Ground nut decorticating
21.	Handloom/ carpet weaving
22.	Leather cutting and stitching
23.	Coir items from coconut husks
24.	Metal caps containers etc
25.	Shoe brush and wire brush
26.	Medical oxygen
27.	Organic and inorganic nutrients
28.	Organic manure
29.	Packing of powdered milk
30.	Paper pins and u clips
31.	Repairing of electric motors /generators
32.	Rope (plastic and cotton)
33.	Scientific and mathematical instrument
34.	Solar module non-conventional energy apparatus
35.	Solar power generation through solar photovoltaic cell, wind power and mini hydel power (less than 25 MW)
36.	Surgical and medical products assembling