RAS question
Under the amended Consent Guidelines, the approval timeline for Red category industries was reduced from 120 days to:
Correct answer: (C) 90 days.
Under the amended Uniform Consent Guidelines, the approval timeline for Red category industries was reduced from 120 days to 90 days.
Explanation
The amendment to the Uniform Consent Guidelines under the Air Act, 1981 and the Water Act, 1974 shortened the consent-processing timeline for Red category industries from 120 days to 90 days. This matters because Red category industries are treated as higher-risk units in the consent framework, so the reform reduces delay without removing compliance checks. The PIB release also notes that Registered Environmental Auditors certified under the Environment Audit Rules, 2025 may conduct site visits and verify compliance, alongside inspections by SPCB officers. The same amendment keeps safeguards such as monitoring, refusal or cancellation for non-compliance, and consent cancellation where violations are noticed.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 30 days is too short for the Red category timeline; the amended guideline cited by PIB fixes the reduction at 90 days, not 30 days.
- (B) 60 days is not the revised period for Red category industries; the official release states that the processing time was reduced from 120 days to 90 days.
- (D) 105 days would be only a partial reduction from 120 days, whereas the notified amendment reduced the timeline to 90 days.
Concept
This tests environment-economy governance, especially consent mechanisms under the Air and Water Acts. It recurs in RAS because Rajasthan industry, pollution control and ease-of-doing-business questions often turn on exact regulatory timelines.