India’s Delhi NCR Enforce Stringent Particulate Matter Emission Standards on High Polluting Industries 
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) of India has issued a notification to tighten emission standards for particulate matter (PM) on February 20, 2026. The scope covers industries located in the Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR), categorized as “Red” under the “Classification of Sectors into Red, Orange, Green, White and Blue Categories“, food & food processing, textile industries that utilize boilers or thermic fluid heaters, as well as metals industry with furnaces. For these industries, the PM emission standard will be set at 50 mg/Nm3.
| Industries | Date of Enforcement |
|---|---|
| Medium enterprises (with investment up to 1.25 billion rupees and turnover of 5 billion rupees or more) and large enterprises (with investment exceeding 1.25 billion rupees or turnover exceeding 5 billion rupees) that fall under the “Red” category in the “Classification of Sectors into Red, Orange, Green, White and Blue Categories” | August 1, 2026 |
|
Medium and Large Enterprises: August 1, 2026 Enterprises other than above: October 1, 2026 |
*Industries with exempted PM emission standards granted under any consent will not be applicable.
Under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, the national emission standard for PM is set at 150 mg/Nm3. However, a separate industry specific emission standards are applicable for high-emission sectors.
Download the notification from link below:
https://caqm.nic.in/WriteReadData/LINKS/Direction No-9866cc9162-5c19-49c5-a836-be302e9053af.pdf
