Parliament Question: Revised Greenbelt and Plantation Norms for Sustainable Industrial Growth

OIH GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.12.2025 Revised Greenbelt and Plantation Norms for Sustainable Industrial Growth

2. SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT:

SHRI NALIN SOREN:

SHRI BASAVARAJ BOMMAI:

SHRI VISHWESHWAR HEGDE KAGERI:

SHRI P C MOHAN:

SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

SMT. KAMALJEET SEHRAWAT:

SHRI ALOK SHARMA:

SHRI NABA CHARAN MAJHI:

SHRI HASMUKHBHAI SOMABHAI PATEL:

SHRI MITESH PATEL BAKABHAI:

SHRI ASHISH DUBEY:

SMT. MAHIMA KUMARI MEWAR:

SHRI KALI CHARAN SINGH:

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

state:

(a) the details of the revised greenbelt and plantation norms notified by the Government for new industrial estates, parks and individual industrial projects under the Environmental Clearance framework;

(b) the rationale behind revising the earlier requirement of 33 per cent green cover to the present norms;

(c) the details of the steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure that the revised norms continue to promote sustainable industrial growth;

(d) whether the Government is also revising greenbelt and distance norms for new oil and gas terminals in view of rapid urbanisation in the cities; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and the manner in which the said project is likely to benefit Jabalpur and Mewar Lok Sabha Constituencies in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) In order to rationalise the green belt requirement based on pollution potential, the Ministry vide OM dated 29.10.2025 has directed that the revised criteria for developing green belt/green cover for Industrial Estates/Parks and individual industries may be adhered to in supersession of the OM dated 27th October, 2020. The revised criteria, inter-alia, mandates that in Industrial Estates a minimum of 10% of the area of the industrial estate shall be designated as common green area and respective red category and orange category Industrialunits within the Estate shall develop 15% and 10% of the area of their premises as green belt/green cover respectively. Further, for individual industrial units outside the Industrial Estates, red and orange category industries are required to develop 25% and 20% green belt/green cover in their respective premises which may be reduced by 5% each if they are not predominantly air polluting industries. With regard to green and white industries it has been directed that development of green belt/green cover is optional with no mandatory requirement, except for green category industries with air pollution score ≥25, in which case such industries shall develop 10% green belt/green cover within their respective premises.

(b) There was a need to strike a balance between the requirement of land for the Projects/Activities and the environmental needs of the green belt along with the existing pollution control and abatement measures prescribed under the general and specific conditions forming part of the prior Environmental Clearance issued in accordance with the provisions of EIA Notification 2006 as amended, so as to optimize the use of available land. Therefore, it was decided to rationalize the green belt requirement based on pollution potential. The rationalization of green belt/green cover was done based on the recommendations of a Committee, which was, inter alia, based on examining various International norms for developing green belt/green cover. The rationale for the revised green belt/green cover norms is that industries with higher pollution potential such as red category industries and orange category industries need to develop more percentage of green belt in order to mitigate the pollution that emerges from the industrial activity.

(c) to (e) The Central Government has ensured that the revised green belt/green cover norms are implemented with a monitoring mechanism which ensures that the industrial estates shall submit a half yearly green belt status report to the State Pollution Control Boards

(SPCB)/Pollution Control Committees (PCC) and the Integrated Regional Office (IRO) of MoEFCC, informing canopy coverage, number of living trees, height and species, survival rate, etc. with drone imagery. The individual industrial units also need to submit half yearly reports on their green belt areas, including total area covered, number of trees, species types, and other relevant details, as part of their environmental statements to the respective SPCB/PCC. The green belt details submitted by the Industrial Estate will be verified by IRO and SPCB/ PCC on yearly basis. The green belt details of individual units will also be verified by SPCB/PCC on random basis at time of inspections.

The revised green belt norms shall be applicable to all the projects across the country, including those in Jabalpur and Mewar Lok Sabha Constituencies in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively. The revised norms provide the benefit of additional land area to industries to expand their operations without compromising the environmental needs of developing green belt/ green cover.

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