CPCB Warns NCR Industries: Order Pollution-Control Devices or Face Closure
In a letter dated 30 October 2026, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the State Pollution Control Boards of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to issue show-cause notices (a formal notice asking "why should action not be taken against you?") to industries that are not following the new emission rules.
These rules come from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). CAQM has fixed a limit of 50 mg/Nm³ for particulate matter (dust and soot) coming out of factory chimneys. The revised limit became applicable from 1 October 2026. Earlier, many units worked under a limit of 80 mg/Nm³, with 50 mg/Nm³ only an advisory target.
The limit covers the 17 categories of highly polluting industries, medium and large Red category industries, food-processing units, textile units running boilers, and metal units with furnaces.
Units that cannot show, within five days, that they have placed orders for air pollution control devices (APCDs) will get closure orders. They must stay shut until they show a believable timeline for installing the devices.
Compliance has been poor: only about 200 of 2,321 identified units had installed or upgraded their devices by 31 July 2026. Industries blamed delays in getting equipment, high costs, and too few agencies able to check existing systems.
The step comes just before Delhi's winter pollution curbs start on 1 November. Delhi's average AQI had touched the "poor" range (around 222 to 232) on 28 and 29 October, before rain brought it down to 60 on 30 October.
Air Pollution Control Devices (APCDs)
Air pollution control devices, or APCDs, are machines fitted to a factory's chimney (its stack) to clean the smoke before it goes into the air. They catch tiny bits of dust, soot and ash, called particulate matter, and some of them also remove harmful gases. Think of an APCD as a filter on a kitchen chimney or a water purifier, but for factory smoke. Without them, everything a boiler or furnace burns would go straight into the air we breathe.
The CPCB's warning is about APCDs. The CAQM's 50 mg/Nm³ limit can only be met if industries fit good dust-catching devices such as bag filters or ESPs. Since most of the 2,321 identified units had not done so, the CPCB has now asked the state boards to use their closure powers against units that have not even ordered the equipment.
Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)
The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas, called CAQM, is a statutory body (set up by a law of Parliament) that manages air quality in Delhi-NCR and the nearby states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It was created because pollution in Delhi comes from many states at once, and no single state could control it alone. It replaced the older Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA).
The emission limit that NCR industries are failing to meet was set by the CAQM. The CPCB's closure warning is a step to enforce the CAQM's standard before the winter pollution season.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)
The Central Pollution Control Board is India's top national body for controlling pollution. It sets standards, monitors air and water quality, and guides the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), which do the actual work of giving permissions to industries and inspecting them. In Union Territories, this work is done by Pollution Control Committees (PCCs), such as the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
The CPCB did not shut the units itself. It used its power to direct the DPCC and the SPCBs of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which hold the consent and closure powers over the industries in their areas.
- CPCB letter: 30 October 2026, to DPCC and SPCBs of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
- Deadline for units to show APCD orders: 5 days, or face closure
- CAQM PM emission limit: 50 mg/Nm³ (earlier limit for many units: 80 mg/Nm³); applicable from 1 October 2026
- Units identified: 2,321; only about 200 had complied by 31 July 2026
- Covered: 17 categories of highly polluting industries, medium and large Red category units, food processing, textile units with boilers, metal units with furnaces
- Delhi AQI: about 222 to 232 ("poor") on 28 and 29 October 2026; 60 on 30 October after rain
- Delhi winter pollution curbs from 1 November 2026