Parliament Question: Pollution caused by Sugar Mills

OIH GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *304 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2026 Pollution caused by Sugar Mills *304. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to

state:

(a) the details of measures proposed to be taken by the Government to prevent carbon emissions and pollution caused by sugar mills in West Champaran district of Bihar; and

(b) whether the Government is likely to conduct an inspection of these sugar mills for prevention of pollution and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)

(a) and (b): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. ****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) AND (B) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 304 DUE FOR REPLY ON 10.08.2026 REGARDING POLLUTION CAUSED BY SUGAR MILLS ASKED BY SHRI SUNIL KUMAR

(a) and (b): As per the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, as amended, all new projects or activities as well as Expansion, modernisation or any change in the product mix or raw material mix in existing projects or activities, listed in the Schedule to the notification, resulting in capacity beyond the threshold limits specified for the concerned sector in the said Schedule require prior Environmental Clearance (EC). Sugar Industry with the capacity exceeding 5000 Tonnes of Cane Crushed per Day (TCD) is mentioned at item no. 5 (j) of the Schedule to EIA Notification, 2006 and therefore require prior environmental clearance for the afore-mentioned purposes. Sugar industries are categorised as Category ‘B’ projects in the Schedule of the EIA Notification, 2006 and accordingly are appraised by the State level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) and EC is granted by State Level Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).

The process of grant of EC, inter alia, involves preparation of a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report and Environmental Management Plan addressing all the environmental concerns related to the project, including, provision for appropriate pollution mitigation measures, installation of pollution control devices and setting up of Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP). Project Proponents are required to submit the six monthly compliance reports regarding the implementation of conditions prescribed in the EC.

The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), has notified “standards for emission and effluents discharge from Sugar mills” vide notification no.

G.S.R. 35(E) dated 14th January, 2016.

The Sugar mills are further regulated through grant of Consent to Establish and/or Consent to Operate under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 by concerned State Pollution Control Boards

(SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs). The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 also includes provisions for monitoring of compliance and provisions for enforcement of notified environmental standards. To strengthen enforcement and ensure compliance with environmental standards, CPCB has issued directions u/s 18(1)(b) of the Water and the Air Act to all SPCBs/PCCs to inspect Red, Orange, and Green categories of industries at a minimum inspection frequency of 6 months, 1 year and 2 years, for verification of compliance of environmental norms. Sugar mills, which comes under Red category are mandated to be inspected by the concerned SPCBs/PCCs once in every six months.

In order to strengthen self-regulation, Sugar mills are mandated to install Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) for emission and effluent monitoring, on a real time basis with connectivity to server of CPCB. As per information furnished by Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB), Sugar mills have installed cyclone/ multi cyclone/ wet scrubber/ Electro Static Precipitators (ESP) as Air Pollution Control Devices (APCD) to control particulate matter emission/carbon emission.

Further, West Champaran district of Bihar is located within the Ganga River basin. CPCB organizes annual inspection of Sugar mills in this region which falls under the ambit of Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) operating in river Ganga main stem States by joint teams of officials from third party technical institutes and SPCBs/PCC since 2017. During 2025-26, five (5) Sugar mills (GPIs) located in West Champaran district of Bihar were inspected and all these Sugar mills were found compliant w.r.t. discharge norms. BSPCB conductsinspection of Sugar mills during crushing season besides inspection by Third Party agencies nominated by CPCB on yearly basis.

CPCB has also developed Charter for effluent treatment by Sugar factories situated in River Ganga basin in 2018, and after its successful implementation, CPCB has prepared Charter 2.0 in 2025 namely “Comprehensive Charter for Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention by Sugar Industries” resulting in reduction in fresh water consumption, waste water discharge & pollution load and improvement in compliance.

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