An RTI (Right to Information) query has thrown up information about the spending pattern of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in the last six years, as well as the amount it collected in the time period.
As per official data, of the total amount of ₹45.81 crore collected by the CPCB from 2018-2024, there is no record of the money spent on protecting the environment in most years, except for in 2024-25, when ₹9 lakh was finally utilised.
The RTI query was filed by social activist Amit Gupta.
The CPCB collects fines and penalties under environmental compensation (EC) that it directly levies on polluters, and also receives 25 per cent of the EC collected by state pollution control boards.
These funds are meant to be used for environmental protection, including strengthening of labs, monitoring networks, compliance studies, capacity-building and costs incurred by the National Green Tribunal (NGT)-appointed committees.
The fact that the board spent just 0.2 per cent of the environmental compensation it collected from 2018 to 2024 on protecting the environment – less than one-fiftieth of the total amount – is not a one-off occurrence. Data has revealed a consistent trend of underutilisation.
Records show that the CPCB spent only ₹130.9 crore, about 30 per cent of the ₹427.37 crore collected under the Environment Protection Charge (EPC) during the same period. These funds are meant to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
The EPC is collected at the rate of one per cent of the ex-showroom price of diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2,000 cc and above, registered in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), as per a Supreme Court order.
The funds are supposed to support air quality improvement efforts, including R&D (Research and Development), control of vehicular pollution, health impact studies and pollution mitigation projects in Delhi-NCR and parts of Punjab.
The CPCB collected ₹29.28 crore in 2016-17, but spent only ₹0.01 crore. In 2023-24, ₹65.28 crore was collected, while spending stood at just ₹22.38 crore.
In 2024-25, it collected ₹74.39 crore, but spent only ₹31.98 crore.
Earlier in March, a parliamentary panel flagged that only ₹7.22 crore (less than one per cent) of the ₹858 crore allocated to the Environment Ministry for its ‘Control of Pollution’ scheme in 2024-25 had been spent by January 21.
The department-related standing committee on science and technology, environment, forests and climate change expressed “shock” at the figures and urged the ministry to “introspect” and take serious note of the reasons behind the gross underutilisation.
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