Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity Target (Amendment) Rules, 2025

Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity Target (Amendment) Rules, 2025 strengthen India’s climate action by tightening emission norms, boosting accountability, and supporting net-zero goals.

Table of Contents

Context

The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change has notified Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity Target (Amendment) Rules, 2025 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Key Features of Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity Target (Amendment) Rules, 2025

Sectoral Inclusion: Four additional sectors—petroleum refineries, petrochemicals, textiles, and secondary aluminium have been brought under the mandatory greenhouse gas emission reduction regime, expanding the list of obligated sectors beyond the earlier coverage of aluminium, cement, chlor-alkali, and pulp & paper industries.
Coverage of Industrial Units: A total of 208 industrial units including 173 textile units, 21 petroleum refineries, 11 petrochemical units, and 3 secondary aluminium units have been brought under the compliance framework.
Emission Intensity Targets: These units are required to reduce GHG emissions per unit of product starting from FY 2025–26, with overall reduction targets in the range of 3–7% by FY 2026–27 compared to the 2023–24 baseline.
Legal Framework: The rules have been notified under the compliance mechanism of the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023, making emission intensity reductions legally binding.
Penalty for Non-Compliance: Industrial units that fail to meet the prescribed emission intensity targets will be liable to pay penalties as per the amended rules.

Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS)

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Power
Aim: To develop the Indian Carbon Market (ICM), where a framework will be established to decarbonize the Indian economy by pricing the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions through trading of the Carbon Credit Certificates.
Institutional Structure:
- The governance and oversight of the Indian Carbon Market (ICM) is managed by the National Steering Committee of Indian Carbon Market (NSCICM), chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Power and co-chaired by the Secretary of the MoEF&CC
- The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) acts as the administrator for the ICM, responsible for developing GHG emissions trajectory and targets for obligated entities.
- The Grid Controller of India Limited is the designated agency for maintaining the ICM Registry and overseeing transactions among obligated entities.
- The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) acts as the regulator for carbon credit trading.