NEERI & Green Cracker QR Code Explained
How to scan the CSIR-NEERI QR code and logo to verify a genuine green cracker, the SWAS/STAR/SAFAL formulations, and what to do if the code fails.
Every genuine green cracker box carries a CSIR-NEERI green logo and a QR code. Scan that code, and the link either confirms the cracker is certified or it doesn't open at all, which is your signal to walk away. That single check is the fastest way to tell a real green cracker from a repackaged conventional one.
The short answer:
- Genuine green crackers are certified by CSIR-NEERI and carry the green CSIR-NEERI logo plus a unique QR code printed on the box.
- Scan the QR code with your phone camera, or with the "CSIR NEERI Green QR Code" app from the Google Play Store, and it opens the product's licences, approvals, CSIR-NEERI certificate, and a reference to the Supreme Court order.
- If the code does not scan, or the link opens to nothing useful, the box is not a verified green cracker.
- Certified crackers are built to one of three CSIR-NEERI formulations: SWAS, STAR, or SAFAL.
- The logo and QR code together are the check; a green-sounding name on the box alone proves nothing.
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More explainers sit in our crackers guides library alongside the safety and certification pages linked throughout.
What the NEERI QR code actually is
CSIR-NEERI, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, developed the green cracker formulations and certifies which products may carry the green label. The NEERI QR code green crackers must carry is how that certification gets checked box by box: every genuine green cracker box is required to show two things together, the green CSIR-NEERI logo, and a unique QR code specific to that product.
The QR code is not decoration. Scan it with a smartphone camera and it directs you to the product's own record, showing its licences, approvals, a certificate from CSIR-NEERI, and a reference to the Supreme Court order that permits green crackers to be manufactured and sold. The code can also be scanned through the "CSIR NEERI Green QR Code" app, listed on the Google Play Store, which reads the same code the camera does.
A box without the logo, or with a QR code that has clearly been reused, cropped, or printed over another label, has already failed the first check before you scan anything.
How to scan and verify a box, step by step
- Look for the logo first. Find the green CSIR-NEERI logo on the box. No logo means stop, this is not a certified green cracker regardless of what the name printed on it claims.
- Find the QR code. It sits on the box near the logo, printed clearly and not smudged, taped over, or duplicated across unrelated packs.
- Open your phone camera and point it at the code, or open the CSIR NEERI Green QR Code app and scan through it.
- Check what opens. A genuine code resolves to product details: licences, approvals, the CSIR-NEERI certificate, and the Supreme Court order reference. Nothing loading, or a broken link, means the code is fake or the product is not certified.
- Don't stop at the logo. The logo alone is not proof. Only a QR code that resolves and shows the product details confirms the box is a genuine CSIR-NEERI certified green cracker; if the code does not open or does not show those details, the certification isn't confirmed.
What SWAS, STAR, and SAFAL mean
CSIR-NEERI certifies crackers under three named formulations. Each is a distinct chemical composition, not a marketing tier, and the QR code on a genuine box will trace back to one of them.
- SWAS (Safe Water Releaser) — releases water vapour into the air as the cracker burns, which acts as a dust suppressant and dilutes the gaseous emissions coming off the cracker.
- STAR (Safe Thermite Cracker) — a CSIR-NEERI green formulation named for its thermite-based composition.
- SAFAL (Safe Minimal Aluminium) — a CSIR-NEERI green formulation built around minimal aluminium content.
All three formulations achieve emissions reductions through the same underlying levers: smaller shell size, no ash-forming raw material, less raw material overall in the composition, and dust-suppressant additives. To qualify as green in the first place, a cracker must deliver a minimum 30% reduction in particulate matter (PM) versus a conventional cracker of the same category, or at least a 20% PM reduction plus a further 10% reduction in gaseous emissions such as SO₂ and NO₂. Green crackers still produce the same spark, flash, and sound as conventional crackers of the same type. The reduction is in emissions, not in the effect, so a certified green cracker is less polluting, not pollution-free.
Genuine green crackers also leave out barium nitrate, a hazardous element used in conventional formulations, and PESO's approval conditions required them to be free of mercury and arsenic as well.
Why the certification exists at all
The Supreme Court of India, in a judgement dated 23 October 2018 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 728 of 2015, allowed the manufacture and sale of green crackers. The National Green Tribunal followed with orders dated 9 November 2020 and 1 December 2020 (O.A. No. 249/2020), directing that only green crackers may be used in cities and towns where air quality is moderate or below. In those cities, the QR code is not an optional nicety, it is the mechanism that lets you and enforcement authorities confirm a box actually meets the legal standard rather than just claiming to.
CSIR signed agreements with around 230 companies to manufacture and sell certified green crackers, and their manufacturing cost runs about the same as, or slightly lower than, conventional crackers. That scale is exactly why the QR code matters: with hundreds of licensed makers in the market, the code is the one check that does not rely on trusting the label.
What to do if a QR code fails
A QR code that does not scan, opens to a blank page, or resolves to details that do not match the product in your hand is not a genuine CSIR-NEERI certified green cracker. Do not treat a partial match, a logo without a working code, or a code printed on a different-looking box as good enough.
If you are buying in person, ask the seller for a different batch before purchasing. If you are ordering online, buy only from a seller who states the product is CSIR-NEERI certified and who stocks the certified green crackers range, and check the green crackers price list to compare against genuinely certified items rather than unmarked "eco" stock priced to look similar. Our best green crackers picks for 2026 stick to certified formulations for exactly this reason.
For the fuller picture on how the underlying chemistry works, how green crackers work walks through the science, and environment-friendly crackers explained covers the wider category. Our blog also has focused reads on identifying genuine green crackers by QR code, what NEERI certification means, and SWAS, STAR, and SAFAL explained.