Vanmora Granito Limited’s ₹23.9 lakh NGT penalty upheld

Vanmora Granito Limited’s ₹23.9 lakh environmental penalty was upheld after the National Green Tribunal dismissed the company’s relevant appeals on February 25, 2026. Vanmora Granito is considering an appeal, while any sums payable by two former subsidiaries amalgamated into the company may also be borne by it.

What did the NGT uphold against Vanmora Granito?

The National Green Tribunal, or NGT, upheld directions requiring Vanmora Granito to pay a ₹23.9 lakh penalty. The NGT’s Western Zone Bench in Pune dismissed the company’s relevant appeals in its February 25, 2026 judgment and upheld directions issued by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board under Section 33A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and Section 31A of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

The penalty followed regulatory action over coal-gasifier industries. In its March 6, 2019 order, the NGT’s Principal Bench in New Delhi ordered closure of all coal-gasifier industries, required units operating with coal gasifiers to switch to non-coal gasifiers, and directed the Gujarat Pollution Control Board to begin prosecution and recover compensation for environmental and public-health damage.

The February 2026 judgment establishes the disclosed ₹23.9 lakh penalty, but the addendum does not state whether Vanmora Granito has paid it. The June 17, 2026 addendum says only that Vanmora Granito is considering an appeal, without disclosing a filing date or the grounds for a further challenge.

Why can former-subsidiary notices become Vanmora Granito’s liability?

Vanmora Granito may bear sums payable by Tocco Ceramic Private Limited and Solaris Ceramics Private Limited because both entities were amalgamated into Vanmora Granito with effect from April 1, 2023. The addendum expressly states that any amount payable by Tocco Ceramic and Solaris Ceramics would be borne by Vanmora Granito under the disclosed amalgamation scheme.

The Gujarat Pollution Control Board issued interim-compensation notices dated September 11, 2019 to all three entities after the March 2019 NGT order. Vanmora Granito received a notice for ₹96.5 lakh, Tocco Ceramic received one for ₹40.3 lakh, and Solaris Ceramics received one for ₹1.84 crore, producing a combined stated amount of ₹3.208 crore.

The two former subsidiaries accounted for ₹2.243 crore, or about 70%, of the ₹3.208 crore total in the three September 2019 notices. Solaris Ceramics alone accounted for ₹1.84 crore. These were interim-compensation notices, distinct from the ₹23.9 lakh penalty upheld in February 2026, and the addendum does not say that the interim amounts were finally determined or paid.

How did the coal-gasifier proceeding develop from 2019 to 2026?

The disclosed proceeding moved from the NGT’s March 2019 order to compensation notices, a Gujarat High Court filing and the NGT’s February 2026 dismissal of appeals. Vanmora Granito and Tocco Ceramic responded to their September 11, 2019 notices through replies dated October 11, 2019, before Vanmora Granito filed a special civil application on December 21, 2019.

The special civil application was filed before the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad, Morbi, seeking, among other relief, to have the notices quashed and set aside. The Gujarat Pollution Control Board subsequently issued further notices dated December 11, 2019 for payment of interim compensation, followed by notices dated April 11, 2022 seeking 25.00% of interim compensation and another set dated August 2, 2024.

The addendum does not disclose the High Court’s outcome, the monetary amounts sought in the April 2022 or August 2024 notices, or a final resolution of the 2019 interim-compensation demands. It instead identifies the February 25, 2026 NGT decision as the latest stated outcome, with Vanmora Granito considering a further appeal.

How does the NGT penalty compare with Vanmora Granito’s litigation disclosures?

The ₹23.9 lakh NGT penalty is below Vanmora Granito’s ₹2.18 crore threshold for identifying other material pending civil, arbitration and tax litigation. The board adopted its materiality policy on July 28, 2025 using restated consolidated financial information for the financial years ended March 31, 2026, March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024.

The policy uses the lowest of three measures: 2% of preceding-year turnover, or ₹30.249 crore; 2% of net worth at the preceding year-end, or ₹15.912 crore; and 5% of the average absolute profit or loss after tax for the preceding three financial years, or ₹2.18 crore. The ₹2.18 crore amount was therefore the disclosed threshold. The addendum separately addresses actions by statutory or regulatory authorities, including penalties and show-cause notices.

Vanmora Granito also disclosed 19 tax proceedings with quantifiable demands of ₹8.267 crore as of the addendum date. The 17 indirect-tax cases represented ₹8.103 crore, while two direct-tax cases involved ₹16.4 lakh. Separately, Vanmora Granito had filed 58 cheque-dishonour complaints under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, involving ₹7.302 crore; those recovery cases are not environmental proceedings.

Conclusion

The upheld ₹23.9 lakh NGT penalty is Vanmora Granito’s stated immediate environmental regulatory outcome, following dismissal of its relevant appeals on February 25, 2026. Its potential exposure is broader because the April 1, 2023 amalgamation places any payable sums of Tocco Ceramic and Solaris Ceramics with Vanmora Granito, including their ₹2.243 crore share of the September 2019 interim-compensation notices.

The next development to watch is whether Vanmora Granito files the appeal it says it is considering. The June 17, 2026 addendum does not disclose an appeal filing, payment of the penalty, the High Court outcome, or resolution of the 2019, 2022 and 2024 pollution-control notices.