Last reviewed · Reviewed for issuing board, online portal, consent validity, published timelines Authority names, portals, fees and timelines change with state notifications; confirm the live position with the authority before relying on it.
SPCB Consent to Establish & Operate (CTE/CTO) for factories in Delhi
If your unit is in Delhi, the Consent to Establish and the Consent to Operate under the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981 come from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). CTE comes before construction and CTO before production; the category your process is assigned sets the fee, the validity and the treatment the consent will demand. This page carries what is specific to Delhi; the categorisation logic, the ETP and stack obligations and the design decisions that keep a unit inside its consent are on the complete CTE/CTO guide.
Apply, check status and renew: the official route (checked 10 Oct 2026)
- Where to apply: UCAMS — DPCC’s notice: “The UCAMS Portal is now operational for online submission of applications for Consent and Authorization” and “Applications will no longer be accepted through OCMMS/MHA/MCD portal” (DPCC). Online filing is mandatory and no hard copy is deposited.
- Validity: “The period of Consent to Establish shall be from one year to seven years as requested by the Project Proponent”; CTO and renewal for 5 years (Red), 10 years (Orange) and 15 years (Green) (consent policy).
- White category: “The industries categorized under White category shall not be required to obtain the Consent to Establish / Operate” — they “submit an undertaking to DPCC online”.
- Fee: slabs of capital investment on land, building, plant and machinery (excluding pollution-control equipment) from up to ₹5 lakh to above ₹500 crore, with Green and Orange columns; the CTE fee is one-time and the CTO fee is per year, paid for 10 years at once for Green and 5 years for Orange, under the Committee’s decision of 9 December 2009 (fee structure).
- Timelines: under the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act, 2011 the consent certificate under the Air and Water Acts is due within 120 days (time frame).
- Sequence: “No consent to operate is granted until industrial unit has obtained consent to establish.”
- Offices: no regional-office structure is published; the consent policy names the DPCC office at Block I, DMRC IT Park.
The Board decides and sets the timeline; we design the utilities to the category and prepare the file.
Who grants it, and under what law
| Delhi (NCT) | |
|---|---|
| Board | Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) |
| Acts | Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 · Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 |
| Online portal | CPCB Unified Consent & Authorization Management System (UCAMS) |
| Board site | dpcc.delhi.gov.in |
The national frame every state applies
- Categories: CPCB’s 2025 classification (12 February 2025, corrigendum 16 October 2025) sorts sectors into Red, Orange, Green, White and Blue; the sector list as on 24 August 2026 runs to 464 sectors (CPCB categorisation page). The 2016 pollution-index bands behind it: 60 and above Red, 41–59 Orange, 21–40 Green, up to 20 White (CPCB final directions, 2016).
- White category: MoEF&CC notifications G.S.R. 702(E) and 703(E) of 12 November 2024 exempt plants with a pollution index up to 20 from prior consent, on condition that the plant informs the state board in writing; a plant holding an Environmental Clearance is exempt from a separate CTE (Water Act notification, Air Act notification). The White schedule was substituted by G.S.R. 511(E)/512(E) of 28 July 2025 (54 sectors) and again by G.S.R. 761(E)/762(E) of 17 October 2025 (86 sectors).
- One portal, slowly: CPCB’s Unified Consent & Authorization Management System (UCAMS) is already the filing route in Delhi and is announced as the replacement for OCMMS in Himachal Pradesh; the other states still file on their own single windows.
What’s specific to Delhi
Delhi has made the portal switch the other states are still announcing: DPCC files on CPCB’s UCAMS and has stopped accepting applications through the old OCMMS, MHA and MCD routes, so a saved draft on the old system is not an application. The 120-day statutory window is the longest in this cluster, which is why the DSIIDC estates — Bawana, Okhla, Wazirpur, Mayapuri, Patparganj — file the CTE with the building set rather than after it. DPCC’s categorisation page was last updated on 9 October 2026.
Where we work in Delhi
Secured Engineers Pvt. Ltd. designs the water balance, the effluent and sewage treatment, the stacks and the fuel and DG arrangements to the category the Board assigns, for units across Delhi’s estates: Bawana Industrial Area, Okhla Industrial Area, Wazirpur Industrial Area, Mayapuri Industrial Area, Patparganj Industrial Area. See the full Delhi zone list.
Get the consent file right
- Design & Approvals — we design the utilities to the category and prepare the CTE and CTO files with the building, factory and fire sets
- Fire NOC in Delhi, CEIG approval in Delhi and factory licence in Delhi — the rest of the approval chain for the same premises
- Complete CTE/CTO guide — categorisation, ETP obligations, validity and the design decisions behind them
Starting a consent file? Send the process description, the water balance and the fuel and DG details for a CTE/CTO readiness review — an engineer replies with the likely category under the current DPCC list, the treatment the consent will ask for and what is still missing. Request a technical review.
Secured Engineers Pvt. Ltd. is an MEPF and solar EPC contractor; we design the utilities and prepare the file, and the Board decides. Board names, portals, fees, validity and timelines above were read on the official pages linked on 10 Oct 2026 and can change with Board orders — several were issued in 2025 and 2026 — so confirm the live position with the regional office before filing.
Frequently asked questions
Where is CTE or CTO filed for a Delhi factory?
On CPCB's Unified Consent & Authorization Management System (UCAMS). DPCC states that applications are no longer accepted through the OCMMS, MHA or MCD portals, and that no hard copy is deposited.
How long is a DPCC consent valid?
CTE from one to seven years as requested; CTO and renewal for 5 years (Red), 10 years (Orange) and 15 years (Green).
How long does DPCC take to issue consent?
Up to 120 days for the consent certificate under the Air and Water Acts, under the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act, 2011.
Do White category units in Delhi need DPCC consent?
No — White category industries are not required to obtain CTE or CTO; they submit an online undertaking to DPCC.
How is the DPCC consent fee calculated?
By slabs of capital investment on land, building, plant and machinery (excluding pollution-control equipment), with Green and Orange columns; the CTE fee is one-time and the CTO fee is per year, paid for 10 years at once for Green and 5 years for Orange.
Sources and standards
- Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (as amended) — The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. Publisher.Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate for effluent discharge, granted by the state pollution control boards and committees.
- Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (as amended) — The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. Publisher.Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate for emissions in air-pollution control areas, granted by the state boards and committees.
- CPCB classification of sectors (Red, Orange, Green, White, Blue), 2025 (12 February 2025, corrigendum 16 October 2025; sector list as on 24 August 2026) — Report on Classification of Sectors into Red, Orange, Green, White and Blue Categories — 2025, with the MoEF&CC White-category exemption notifications. Central Pollution Control Board. Publisher.The pollution-index category of each sector, which sets consent fee, validity and treatment obligations; the White-category consent exemption.
- State pollution control boards and committees (PPCB, HSPCB, DPCC, UPPCB, RSPCB, HPSPCB, UKPCB) (pages read on 10 Oct 2026) — State pollution control boards — consent portals, fee schedules, validity orders and Right to Service timelines. State boards and committees of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Publisher.The state-specific portal, fee basis, consent validity, timelines and regional-office jurisdiction cited on each state page.
Standards are cited to support the technical statements on this page. Where a standard has been revised, the edition shown is the one verified at the time of review; the edition in force for a project is the one the authority applies.