Maharashtra govt may revise bank guarantees and fines for polluting units after CAG flags lapses

The Maharashtra Environment Department has decided to revise bank guarantees and fines imposed on polluting industries after a CAG report flagged lapses involving Rs 27247 crore in uncollected guarantees officials have saidThe move aims to increase accountability among industries discharging pollutants with a committee set up to recommend a new structure for bank guarantees and penalties within three months they said on MondayAccording to the CAG report tabled during the recently concluded Budget session of the state legislature as many as 2678 bank guarantees of Rs 27247 crore were not obtained in physical form making them unverifiable It also noted that forfeiture orders could not be executed in several cases due to noncollection of guarantees and Rs 1798 crore from forfeited guarantees was incorrectly credited instead of being utilised for environmental remediationThe audit report further pointed to a short recovery of Rs 756 crore in consent fees stating that environmental compensation of Rs 18325 crore imposed on 339 industries remained unrecovered with notices later withdrawn without adequate justification An official from the Environment Department noted that the revised bank guarantee structure would factor in pollution levels across regions with higher rates proposed for critically polluted areasThere will not be random rates We are considering higher guarantees in areas with higher pollution levels such as Chandrapur the official said The official added that an online system would be introduced to monitor the collection of bank guarantees and penalties reducing human intervention and improving transparencyThe decision follows a meeting held last week under Maharashtra Environment Minister Pankaja Munde attended by senior officials including Environment and Climate Change Department Secretary Jayashree Bhoj and representatives of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board Officials noted that the current policy under which industries are required to submit bank guarantees equivalent to 10 per cent of their investment in pollution control systems has remained unchanged since 2013Discussions were held on increasing this amount to ensure stricter compliance with environmental norms Munde directed officials to undertake a comprehensive study and submit recommendations within three months The objective is to ensure industries prioritise pollution control while keeping the policy industryfriendly she said asking officials to examine Central Pollution Control Board guidelines and practices followed in other statesThe move follows a Supreme Court order in August 2025 which allows environmental regulators including pollution control boards to impose environmental compensation and seek bank guarantees as preventive measures against environmental damageThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever