A Gram-stain-positive, alkaliphilic, non-spore-forming, non-motile bacterium, designated VDS11T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from the hexachlorocyclohexane dumpsite, located at Ummari Village, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain VDS11T occupies a distinct phylogenetic position within the genus Corynebacterium, showing the highest sequence similarity with Corynebacterium humireducens MFC-5T (98.7 %) and Corynebacterium nasicanis 2673/12T (98.4 %). The DNA G+C content was 50.6 mol% and the DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) relatedness value with C. humireducens MFC-5T and C. nasicanis 2673/12T was 49.7 and 39.6 %, respectively. Strain VDS11T contained C16 : 0 (28.3), C18 : 1ω9c (52.3), C18 : 0 (1.3) and C20 : 0 (3.0) as the major cellular fatty acids. The major isoprenoid quinone was MK-9(H2). Strain VDS11T contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, unidentified aminolipids, glycolipids, phospholipids and unidentified lipids as the major polar lipids. The peptidoglycan type was A31 (meso 2, 6-diaminopimelic acid, directly cross-linked). Based on the results of DDH studies and the biochemical and physiological data, strain VDS11T represents a novel species of the genus Corynebacteriumfor which the name Corynebacterium pollutisoli sp. nov., has been proposed. The type strain is VDS11T(=DSM 100104T=MCC 2722T=KCTC 39687T).