<p>The intensification of global environmental pollution has heightened demands from economic and social sectors for environmental legitimacy in heavily polluting enterprises (ELHPE). While digital inclusive finance (DIF) serves as a critical driver of corporate environmental governance, its impact and mechanisms for enhancing ELHPE remain underexplored. In this context, the paper systematically investigates how DIF promotes ELHPE and its underlying mechanisms from the dual perspectives of corporate green investment (GI) and green technology innovation (GTI). The study, using data from heavily polluting industry-listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-stock exchanges from 2011 to 2020, constructs a measure of environmental legitimacy based on the Environmental Legitimacy, Accountability, and Proactivity (ELAP) framework and applies a multidimensional fixed-effects model for analysis. The baseline results show that DIF has a significant contribution to ELHPE, and the conclusion still stands after the robustness test and endogeneity test. Mechanism analysis verifies that DIF indirectly promotes the ELHPE through GI and GTI. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis reveals that DIF has a more pronounced effect on large and mature enterprises, and a greater effect on heavily polluting enterprises in the northern region and in regions with higher PM_2.5 concentrations. These findings offer a theoretical basis and policy recommendations for using DIF to promote ELHPE.</p>