The Tamil Nadu government is planning to introduce a voluntary green rating programme for industries, including organisations such as hospitals and wedding halls, involving the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).
As part of the new initiatives to be taken by the TNPCB this year, a system of green rating of industries has been proposed. Minister for Environment and Climate Change Siva V. Meyyanathan said in the Assembly that the rating would facilitate industries for achieving high environmental standards and encourage them to adopt cleaner technologies.
Referring to Mr. Meyyanathan’s announcement, Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Departments of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, said on June 6 that the framework was ready for benchmarking industries and the programme would be launched soon.
R. Kannan, Member-Secretary, TNPCB, said the guidelines were yet to be finalised and the TNPCB was in talks with other departments, such as Industries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Guidance Tamil Nadu to decide on the technicalities of the programme. All types of industries under the red, orange, green categories, as listed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), will be given the rating based on certain criteria and prior consent from the TNPCB.
According to the department, the industries were proposed to be ranked as platinum, gold, silver, and bronze based on their performance.
