Govt of India colour-codes industries: aluminium extraction from scrap- orange, aluminium utensils- green

Government of India has come up with a list of industries that would now be classified as red, orange or green, and the different rules that they would be subjected to. This decision pertaining to a new colour-coded categorisation of industries based on a particular industry's pollution potential was made in 2015. It took the government a year to finalise the list of industries.

A new category, white, has been added to include the industries that are “practically non-polluting”. These industries, like air cooler or air conditioning units, won’t need a green clearance enabling easier financing.

The classification is for entire industrial sectors and not for individual units. Cement industry, petrochemicals, fertilizers, and paints, for example, have been put in the red category.

Orange category includes coal washeries, glass manufacturing, paints, and aluminium extraction from scrap. The green industries include aluminium utensils among other industries.

There are 63 industries in this list. A total of 36 industries have been categorised as white.

The categorisation is based on a pollution index developed by the environment ministry taking into account the emissions, effluents, and hazardous waste generated, and the resources it consumes. Industries scoring 60 and above on a scale of 1 to 100 have been rated red. An index between 41 and 59 earns an orange category, while a score between 21 and 39 gets a green. Pollution index lower than 20 have been rated white.