Why does India report only half the plastic waste it generates every year?

The CPCB has approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to enforce the implementation of plastic waste management rules by non-compliant states

Current Affairs: Only 14 of India’s 35 regional pollution boards filed information on plastic waste generation in 2017-18, according to the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Thus, the CPCB estimate of plastic waste generated in India in 2017-18–660,787.85 tonnes, enough to fill 66,079 trucks at 10 tonnes a truck–does not reflect the situation in more than 60% of India’s states and union territories.

In 2016-17 too, CPCB received these figures from only 25 regional pollution boards. The total plastic waste generation figure for that year was estimated at 1.6 million tonnes, or 160,000 truckfulls.

The CPCB has approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to enforce the implementation of plastic waste management rules by non-compliant states. On March 12, 2019, the NGT ordered all of them to ensure that reports are furnished to the CPCB by April 30, 2019. Failure is to be punished with a penalty of Rs 1 crore per month, to be paid to the CPCB, the NGT said.

India consumes an estimated 16.5 million tonnes, about 1.6 million truckfulls, of plastic annually, as per this June 2018 report in Down to Earth that cites data provided by PlastIndia Foundation, a conglomeration of associations and institutions that deal in plastic. Of this, 43% is plastic manufactured for single-use packaging material that will mostly find its way into garbage bins, the report said. In all, 80% of total plastic produced in India is discarded...