Union power ministry on Friday halted the sale of fly ash by the thermal power plants generating it, till a case pertaining to the use of fly ash is disposed of by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

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The NGT is slated to hear a plea by the Amaravati Fly Ash Brick Manufacturers (AFABM) on December 15 against the Centre's order which had mandated the sale of fly ash generated at thermal power plants, against which an interim order has already been passed by the NGT.

Appearing for the ministries of power, coal and MSMEs, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj and advocate Gigi C George had submitted that the power ministry's order to monetise fly ash generated at thermal power plants was aimed at full utilisation of the by-product and reducing the financial burden on consumers of power, which involved giving priority of fly ash supply to those who were ready to take it at their own cost.

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Centre submitted that the supply of fly ash through a competitive bidding process was without any favouritism and in compliance with the statutory norms laid down by the ministry of environment and forests.

Further, the Centre pointed out that NTPC alone incurred a cost of Rs 1,440 crore in 2021-22 to transport fly ash to user agencies, the burden of which rested on power consumers.

However, AFABM claimed that the power ministry's advisory allowing monetization of fly ash ignored environmental violations like pollution of air and water as well as the carcinogenic threats emanating from its use.

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Appearing for AFABM, advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal argued that fly ash was provided for free to more than 25,000 small industries and brick manufacturers till December 2021 who used it after neutralising its negative impact.

AFABM contended that the pressure of big corporates led to the Centre's order which mandated the provision of fly ash only through sale, thereby harming the business prospects of small enterprises which used fly ash for operations.