GRAIN BY GRAIN – CSE’S REPORT ON ENVIRONMENTAL RATING OF INDIA’S FERTILIZER INDUSTRY

Prelims level : Environment- Pollution & Waste Management Mains level : GS-III- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
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  • Context:Grain by Grain’ Report which is the complete assessment of the environmental performance of fertilizer industry in India was released by Centre for Science & Environment (CSE)

About:

  • The report – ‘Grain by Grain’ – is the complete assessment of the environmental performance of fertilizer industry in India.
  • This first of its kind of environmental rating of Indian fertilizer industry has been done by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), along with its Green rating project (GRP).
  • It rated India’s all 28 operational fertilizer plants on around 50 parameters.
  • This is the seventh rating project undertaken by GRP. The Project has, earlier, rated the pulp and paper, automobile, chloro-alkali, cement, iron and steel and thermal power sectors.

Key Highlights of The Report:

  • The widespread production and use of the common fertiliser chemical urea in India’s large agriculture sector has led to alarming levels of nitrogen pollution of surface water and groundwater in many Indian states.
  • Nitrogen is found in most chemical fertilisers and contributes to groundwater contamination, damaging the environment and people’s health globally, just as many regions around the world face acute water shortages.
  • Chemicals such as urea form the bulk of fertilisers in India, which remains the world’s second-largest consumer of the chemicals after China, according to the report.
  • Report calls for the government to liberalise the industry to make it more competitive, potentially leading to greater efficiencies and more environmentally sound production practices.
  • India’s fertilizer sector is among the best in the world in energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, its staggering records on water use, water pollution and plant safety is a cause of concern.
  • It found Grasim Industries Ltd’s Indo Gulf Fertilizers unit at Jasdishpur, Uttar Pradesh as the best, followed by Hazira unit of KRIBHCO in Gujarat and Panambur unit of Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd. in Karnataka.
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