The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has proposed new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets for India’s major aluminium producers under the draft Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity Target Rules, 2025. The draft, now open for public feedback, aims to regulate emissions across aluminium smelters owned by companies such as Vedanta, Hindalco, Nalco, and others.

According to the draft, each plant will have specific emission intensity targets to meet over the next two years. For instance, Vedanta’s Smelter II in Jharsuguda, Odisha—producing 12.38 lakh tonnes of aluminium in FY24—will need to reduce its emission intensity from the baseline of 13.4927 to 13.2260 in FY26 and further to 12.8259 in FY27.

Similarly, Hindalco’s Hirakud Smelter, which produced 1.78 lakh tonnes of aluminium in FY24, has targets to cut emission intensity from 19.2759 to 18.7315 in FY26 and 17.9150 in FY27.

The targets also extend to Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd, Nalco, Utkal Alumina International, Aditya Aluminium, and Mahan Aluminium Plant, with individual benchmarks based on their baseline emission levels.

Stakeholders have been invited to submit their comments on the draft rules within 60 days to the Ministry.

The move aligns with India’s commitment to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2070 and reflects the government's push towards sustainable industrial practices.