New Delhi: Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday inaugurated a laboratory to test and calibrate equipment to monitor air pollution, one of the very few such facilities in the world.
Singh inaugurated the National Environmental Standard Laboratory at the CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (NPL) premises here, and described it as a critical step towards strengthening India’s environmental governance framework.
Singh said the facility will reduce India’s dependence on foreign certification agencies, save foreign exchange, shorten turnaround time for calibration, and enhance investor confidence in the country’s rapidly expanding solar sector.
The minister also inaugurated the National Primary Standard Facility for Solar Cell Calibration (Solar Energy Complex), terming it a “future-ready facility” that places India among a select group of global leaders in photovoltaic measurement standards.
Addressing the 80th Foundation Day celebrations of Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research–NPL here, the minister said, while the “National Environmental Standard Laboratory” marks for India a major leap in Environmental Governance, the “National Primary Standard Facility” makes India a member of Elite Global League in Solar Metrology.
He said that reliable, India-specific calibration and certification of air pollution monitoring systems was long overdue and would now enable transparent, traceable, and accurate environment data.
The facility will support regulatory bodies, industries, and startups by ensuring that monitoring instruments are tested under Indian climatic conditions, thereby improving policy enforcement under programmes such as the National Clean Air Programme.
The Environment Ministry has designated the CSIR-NPL as verification and certification agency for emission and ambient air pollution monitoring equipment in India.
The NSEL will measure the performance of various air ambient and emission pollution monitoring equipment such as Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Equipment (OCEMS), Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS).
