A presidential decree of 25 March 2026 on the nationwide “Clean Air” project for 2026–2030 introduces an indefinite moratorium on new industrial zones in Tashkent from 1 April, except for services and finance projects, Gazeta.uz reported on 31 March 2026. Coal-fired social facilities in Tashkent are to switch to hot-water and electric heating.
Under the project’s programme for Tashkent, Gazeta reported, the introduction of geothermal heating systems, including for greenhouse farms, will also be worked out, taking into account the availability of groundwater.
The decree, UP-46, was published on lex.uz on 30 March. Item 10 of its programme for Tashkent, in the Uzbek text, gives the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Mining Industry and Geology and the Ecology Committee two months to analyse land plots and groundwater reserves, and the protection and rational use of groundwater, in areas of Tashkent and its surroundings where greenhouses are located, with a view to introducing geothermal heating, and to make proposals.
