Full Text
REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99
The Gazette of India
CG-DL-E-24012026-269573
EXTRAORDINARY
PART II—Section 3—Sub-section (ii)
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 341]
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2026/MAGHA 3, 1947
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 23rd January, 2026
S.O. 369(E).- Whereas, the Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in
exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) and clause (v) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) read with clause (d) of sub-rule (3) of rule (5) of the Environment (Protection)
Rules, 1986, issued a notification published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, sub-section (ii)
vide S.O.5481(E), dated the 31st December, 2021 (herein after referred to as the Ash Utilisation Notification, 2021);
And whereas, requests have been received from various stakeholders regarding implementation of provisions
of the ash utilisation notification;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) and clause (v) of sub-section (2) of
section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) read with rule (5) of the Environment (Protection)
Rules, 1986, the Central Government hereby publishes the following draft amendments to the Ash Utilisation
Notification, 2021, which the Central Government proposes to make, for information of the public likely to be affected
thereby, and notice is hereby given that the said draft amendments will be taken into consideration by the Central
Government after expiry of a period of sixty days from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette.
The objections or suggestions which may be received from any person in respect of the said draft amendments
before the period specified will be taken into consideration by the Central Government.
Any person desirous of making any objection or suggestion with respect to the said draft amendments may
forward the same, within the period of 60 days from the date of publication of this notification in the Gazette, to the
Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jor Bagh Road, New Delhi
110003 or electronically at email address: sohsmd-mef@gov.in
DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO ASH UTILIZATION NOTIFICATION, 2021
In the Ash Utilisation Notification, 2021,-
(1) in paragraph A,-
(i) in sub-paragraph (3),-
(a) the words, letters and figures "Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)" will be replaced with
the words "Central Electricity Authority";
(b) after the words and figure "Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,", the words and figure
"Central Pollution Control Board," will be inserted.
(ii) in sub-paragraph (4),
(a) in the third proviso, -
(i) after the words "Provided also that", the words "up to" shall be inserted,
(ii) after the words "carried forward to the next cycle", the words, letters, figures and brackets
“(i.e. may be exempted from utilization during the compliance cycle)" shall be inserted.
(b) in the fourth proviso,-
(i) for the words, numbers and figures "similar to the compliance cycle specified for thermal
power plants having utilisation per cent. less than 60 per cent. as specified in the table", the
words "of five years" shall be substituted.
(c) in the Note,-
(i) after the word, numbers, letters and figure "1st April, 2022", the words and figure "or the
financial year of commissioning of the thermal power plants, as applicable" shall be
inserted.
(iii) in sub-paragraph (5),-
(a) in the first proviso, for the words "as per installed capacity of thermal power plant", the
words "by the thermal power plant during the corresponding year” shall be substituted.
(b) for the second proviso,-
(i) for the words "shall certify in this regard", the words, letters, numbers and figure "has
certified in this regard by 31st March, 2025" shall be substituted,
(ii) the words, letters, numbers, figures and brackets “Stabilisation and reclamation of an
ash pond or dyke including certification by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB)
or Pollution Control Committee (PCC) shall be carried out within three years from 1st
April, 2022." shall be deleted.
(iv) in sub-paragraph (6),-
(a) in the opening paragraph,-
(i) for the words, letters and brackets "of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) made in
consultation with the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and these guidelines shall",
the words, letters, numbers, figures and brackets "issued in June, 2023, and its
amendments thereon, prepared by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in
consultation with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and which shall” shall be
substituted,
(ii) the words "and shall be put in place within three months from the date of publication of
this notification" shall be deleted.
(b) in the first proviso,-
(i) after the words "Provided that up to two operational ash ponds or dykes", the words
"are permitted" shall be inserted,
(ii) after the words "up to four operational ash ponds or dykes", the words "are
permitted" shall be inserted,
(iii) the words "may be" shall be deleted,
(iv) for the words "shall inform", the word "informed" shall be substituted,
(v) after the words, letters and brackets "Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)", the
words, letters, figure and brackets “, Central Electricity Authority (CEA)" shall be
inserted.
(c) in the second proviso,-
(i) after the words, letters and brackets "Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)", the
words, letters, figure and brackets ", Central Electricity Authority (CEA)" shall be
inserted.
(ii) the words, letters, numbers and figures "or by 31st March, 2023, whichever is later” shall
be deleted.
(v) in sub-paragraph (8), after the words 'for storage of dry fly ash', the word 'silos' shall be deleted.
(vi) in sub-paragraph (9), for the words and figure "Central Pollution Control Board's web portal", the words,
letters and figures “Coal Ash Management Portal (CAMP)” shall be substituted.
(2) in paragraph B,-
(i) in sub-paragraph (3),-
(a) for the opening paragraph, the following shall be substituted, namely,-
"(3) It shall be obligatory on all mines (Government, Public and Private Sector) located within
300 kilometers radius (by road) from coal or lignite thermal power plants to undertake backfilling
of mine voids or stowing of mines (running or abandoned as the case may be), under Extended
Producer Responsibility (EPR), as per the guidelines of the Director General of Mines Safety
(DGMS):"
(b) in the proviso, the words "and mixing of ash with overburden in mine voids and dumps shall be
applicable for the overburden generated from the date of publication of this notification” shall
be deleted.
(c) in the 'Explanation',-
(i) the words and numbers "using 25 per cent of ash for mixing with overburden dump
and" shall be deleted,
(ii) after the words "filling up of", the word “ash" shall be inserted.
(ii) in sub-paragraph (4) (i),-
(a) the words "and mixing of ash with overburden dumps" shall be deleted,
(b) after the word, letters, numbers and figure “28th August, 2019”, the words “and amendments
thereon" shall be inserted.
(iii) in sub-paragraph 4 (ii), -
(a) for the word "Ministry", the words "Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change" shall
be substituted;
(b) the words “and mixing with overburden dumps” shall be deleted.
(iv) in sub-paragraph (5) (i),-
(a) for the words, letters and brackets “Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)", the words, letters
and brackets 'Central Electricity Authority (CEA)" shall be substituted,
(b) after the words and figure "Ministry of Coal,", the words, letters, figures and brackets "Ministry
of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Ministry of
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal
Trade (DPIIT), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)," shall be inserted,
(c) the words "or mixing of ash with overburden dump" shall be deleted,
(d) after the sentence "There shall be a committee headed by....", the sentence "The committee shall
meet at least once in six months." shall be inserted.
(v) after sub-paragraph 5(ii), the following sub-paragraph shall be inserted, namely,-
"(iii) Upon request from ash users, the Committee constituted under sub-paragraph (5)(i) shall review
the availability of ash at thermal power plants, assess the feasibility and geographical proximity of
users and consider relevant environmental parameters, to provide recommendations to thermal power
plants regarding the allocation of ash for prescribed eco-friendly purposes."
(vi) in sub-paragraph (7),-
(a) after the words, letters and brackets "Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)", the words, letters
and brackets "in consultation with Central Electricity Authority (CEA)" shall be inserted,
(b) the words "within one year" shall be deleted,
(c) after the words "online application process for the grant", the word "of" shall be inserted.
(vii) in sub-paragraph (9), for the words and figures “Bureau of Indian Standards, Indian Road Congress,
and Central Pollution Control Board", the words and figures "Bureau of Indian Standards and Indian Road
Congress" shall be substituted.
(viii) in sub-paragraph 10, after the words "other relevant regulations for", the words "promoting and
maximizing" shall be inserted.
(3) in paragraph C,-
(i) for sub-paragraph (1), the following shall be substituted, namely,-
"(1) In the first two years of a three years cycle, if the coal or lignite based thermal power plant (including
captive or co-generating stations or both) has not achieved at least 80 per cent ash (fly ash and bottom ash)
utilisation, then such non-compliant thermal power plants shall be imposed with an environmental
compensation of Rs. 1000 per ton on unutilised ash after the end of financial year of the compliance cycle
based on the annual reports submitted, followed by reassessment based on the annual compliance audit
report, and if it is unable to utilise average 100 per cent of ash generated during the compliance cycle by
the end of compliance cycle (except for such unutilized ash quantity i.e. up to 20% of ash generated during
the last year of the financial year, which is permitted to be carry forward to the next compliance cycle for
additional utilization as per Para A(4)), it shall be liable to pay an environmental compensation of Rs. 1000
per ton on the unutilised quantity on which environmental compensation has not been imposed earlier:
Provided that the environmental compensation shall be estimated and imposed at the end of last year of the
first compliance cycle as per the various utilisation categories as mentioned in sub-paragraph (4) of Para
A. Thereafter, the environmental compensation shall be estimated and imposed at the end of the financial
year based on the annual reports submitted, followed by reassessment based on the annual compliance
audit report submitted."
(ii) for sub-paragraph (2), the following shall be substituted, namely,-
"(2) Environmental compensation collected from thermal power plants and other defaulters shall be
deposited in the designated account of concerned State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or Pollution
Control Committee (PCC), which shall retain 75% amount with it and transfer 25% of the total amount
to Central Pollution Control Board."
(iii) sub-paragraph (4) shall be omitted;
(iv) in sub-paragraph (5), the word and number "1500 or” shall be substituted with the number "1000”;
(v) in sub-paragraph (6), the word "1500" shall be substituted with the number “1000”;
(vi) for sub-paragraph (7) (i), the words "by Central Pollution Control Board" shall be deleted;
(4) In paragraph E,-
(i) for sub-paragraph (1), the following shall be substituted, namely,-
“(1) (i) The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the concerned State Pollution Control Board
(SPCB) or Pollution Control Committee (PCC) shall be the enforcing and monitoring authority for
ensuring compliance of the provisions and shall monitor the utilisation of ash on quarterly basis. Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in consultation with Central Electricity Authority (CEA) shall develop
a portal for the purpose within six months of date of publication of the notification and Central Electricity
Authority (CEA) and the concerned State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) shall ensure the registration
and ash data upload by all the coal or lignite based thermal power plants on the portal. The concerned
District Magistrate shall have concurrent jurisdiction for enforcement and monitoring of the provisions of
this notification.
(ii) Central Electricity Authority (CEA) shall monitor the utilization of ash as well as the compliance of
the provisions by the thermal power plants, on a quarterly basis, and shall furnish the reports in this
regard."
(ii) for sub-paragraph (2)(i), -
(a) for the words "Central Pollution Control Board and Central Electricity Authority", the words,
letters and brackets "Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and the concerned State Pollution
Control Board or Pollution Control Committee (PCC)" shall be substituted,
(b) for the words, letters and numbers "submit to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change by 31st May", the words, letters and numbers "publish it on their websites and submit
to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change by 30th June" shall be substituted.
(iii) for sub-paragraph (2)(ii), -
(a) for the words "in compliance report of", the words "who have obtained" will be substituted;
(b) for the words "whichever is applicable," the words "annually to concerned State Pollution Control
Board or Pollution Control Committee, on online portal functional under this notification" shall
be substituted;
(c) for the sentence starting with "Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) ....", the sentence "The
concerned State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or Pollution Control Committee (PCC) shall
separately publish annual report of ash utilisation of all other agencies except thermal power
plants to review the effective implementation of the provisions of the notification on its website
along with submission to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB)." shall be substituted.
(iv) for sub-paragraph (3),-
(a) for the words, letters and figures “Chairperson, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)", the
words, letters and figures "Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority (CEA)" will be substituted;
(b) for the words "Ministry Road Transportation and Highways", the words, letters, figures and
brackets "Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),”
shall be substituted,
(c) after the words, letters and figures "Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(MoEFCC), the words "and Ministry of Power” shall be inserted.
(v) for sub-paragraph (5), the following shall be substituted, namely,-
"(5) The compliance audit for ash disposal by the thermal power plants and the user agency shall be
conducted by auditors, authorised by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and/or Certified
Environment Auditors under the Environment Audit Rules, 2025. The audit report is to be prepared as
per SOP issued by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and audit report shall be submitted to
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and concerned State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or
Pollution Control Committee (PCC) by 30th August every year. Central Pollution Control Board and
concerned State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or Pollution Control Committee (PCC) shall initiate
action against non-compliant thermal power plants within fifteen days of receipt of audit report. The
annual ash compliance status report based on the annual compliance audit reports shall be compiled by
the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and reviewed by the Committee constituted in Para E(3)."
(5) In the Annexure, for the word, letters and numbers "31st May”, the word, letters and numbers "30th April" will
be substituted.
This notification shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
[F. No. 09/01/2019-HSMD]
NEELESH KUMAR SAH, Jt. Secy.
Note: The principal notification was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii)
vide number S.O.5481 (E), dated the 31st December, 2021, amended vide number S.O. 6169 (E) dated the 30th
December, 2022 and last amended vide number S.O. 05(E) dated the 1st January, 2024.
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.