# Which parts of a foundry does SIDBI's green loan treat as moderate risk, and is thermal sand reclamation allowed?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/sidbi-gcf-loan-foundry-melting-and-sand-reclamation

Melting, moulding and casting, cooling, finishing and sand recovery are Category B, with a site-specific environmental plan. Raw material preparation and scrap recycling after finishing are low-risk Category C. Thermal sand reclamation is allowed only at MSME scale, with effective air pollution control, shown by due diligence to be reversible and fully mitigable.

## Category B: moderate risk

The reason given: high-temperature work, air emissions, dust, waste handling and worker health and safety. Category B needs an environmental and social impact assessment and plan, with 30 days of advance disclosure before the GCF Board considers it.

- Metal melting.
- Moulding and casting.
- Metal cooling, where water-based cooling is used.
- Finishing: knock-out, fettling, machining.
- Sand recovery and recycling after finishing.

## Category C: low risk

No advance disclosure is needed for Category C.

- Raw material preparation.
- Metal recycling after finishing: collecting, sorting, cleaning and storing risers, gates and machining chips, with no melting.

## Thermal sand reclamation

Mechanical reclamation is Category B. Thermal reclamation units qualify only where they are of MSME-appropriate scale, fitted with effective air pollution control, and the due diligence shows site-specific, reversible, fully mitigable impacts. Industrial-scale or centralised thermal reclamation, or any that causes off-site air quality impact, significant cumulative emissions or breaches of statutory norms, is ineligible.

## Your furnace colour

CPCB lists both cupola furnaces and induction or arc furnaces as Orange.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible's green loan check shows how ready your bills and records are for a green loan, and its finance application tool helps you put them in order. It does not approve loans or speak for SIDBI.

- [SIDBI sector checks for textiles, foundries and steel](https://senseible.earth/answers/sidbi-sector-checks-textile-foundry-steel)
- [What SIDBI monitors after the loan](https://senseible.earth/answers/sidbi-green-loan-monitoring-after-disbursement)
- [Green loan check](https://senseible.earth/green-loan-check)

Sources: [SIDBI, ESIA and ESMP for direct financing, foundry sector (24 July 2026)](https://www.sidbi.in/assets/front/pdf/ESIA_and_ESMP_Foundry_Direct_Finance.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-04.