India's National Green Tribunal has ordered the country's environment ministry to study the impact of petcoke on the environment and report back in two months, the order seen by S&P Global Platts showed.
A bench headed by tribunal chairman Swatanter Kumar directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Central Pollution Control Board to form the committee to undertake the study and submit its findings in two months, according to the order dated last Thursday.
The directive comes as the tribunal continues hearing a submission filed by environment activist Pritam Singh in May 2016 that alleges the increasing use of petcoke in India was harmful to the environment and human health due to its high sulfur content.
The tribunal earlier in May said industries that used petcoke as fuel without permission should be shut down.
That came after India's Supreme Court in April ordered the government to set emissions standards for the National Capital Region by June 30 in response to the surging use of petcoke in areas surrounding New Delhi.
India's domestic petcoke production rose 8% year on year to around 1 million mt in April, while its petcoke imports surged 46% over the same period to 1.5 million mt and comprised 41% of petroleum products imports, according to latest government data.
Over fiscal 2016-17 (April-March), domestic petcoke production rose 17% year on year to 14 million mt, while imports surged 57% to 11 million mt.
Despite high prices, consumption of petcoke is rising in India due to its high calorific value and because it does not incur an environment tax like coal.
The bulk of India's petcoke imports come from the US and Saudi Arabia.
