Petcoke banned in NCR, country-wide blanket ban on cards

November 29, 2017

Following the recommendations of Environment Pollution Authority, a central government committee, the Supreme Court of India has banned the use of petroleum coke (Petcoke) in NCR which includes districts of three states; Haryana, U.P and Rajasthan.

Petcoke is a high Sulphur containing byproduct of refineries which releases 11 times more greenhouse gases than coal. Petcoke has remained as mainstream fuel for industries not only in the NCR but all over India. The extensive use of petcoke in India is mainly due to lack of stable supply of coal and cheaper availability of petcoke, along with its higher calorific value.

In fact, Supreme Court of India suggested to the Central government to implement a blanket ban across India in a systematic way. However, cement industries may remain unaffected from this ban as they use calcined product (limestone) and control their emissions which has been demonstrated to control SO2 emissions and particulate matter.

Courtesy : The Hindu Business Line