BackEnvironment ministry resumes granting clearances to projects
The government has resumed the process about a week after it got permission from the Election Commission
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New Delhi: The environment ministry has resumed the process of granting routine environment and forest clearances for projects, after the Election Commission (EC) accepted its request to allow it to continue giving such approvals.
The government has resumed the process about a week after it got permission from the Commission, a government official said. “We were deciding whether we could go ahead or not as the reply was not too clear," the official said, requesting anonymity. “But now we are moving the files to the minister."
The environment ministry had written to EC after the model code of conduct was enforced with the announcement of general elections on 5 March. The code makes it mandatory for the government to take the permission of the commission for decisions that may influence voters.
The letter, addressed to the chief election commissioner V.S. Sampath, had said environment and forest clearances are a routine regulatory matter and asked the election watchdog to permit the ministry to continue with the process.
More than 60 projects, including Jindal Steel and Power Ltd’s integrated steel plant in East Singhbhum in Jharkhand, Hindalco’s coal mining project in Odisha, National Mineral Development Corp.’s iron mining project in Chhattisgarh, have been awaiting clearance.
After M. Veerappa Moily took over as environment minister, the ministry has been criticized for clearing projects in a hurry and without proper inspection. Former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan was accused of stalling infrastructure projects earlier.
Moily cleared more than 100 projects after taking charge of the ministry in December last year. These include high-profile and controversial projects such as Posco steel plant in Odisha and Tawang dam in Arunachal Pradesh. The waiting period for clearances was cut down considerably during Moily’s brief stint.
The thermal power station in Uttar Pradesh, which had come up for discussion during the forest advisory committee’s (FAC) meeting on 29 and 30 April, is likely to get its clearance soon, said the official cited earlier. “Since we have got the EC letter and FAC has cleared the project, the minister would be granting a clearance to the project soon."
The FAC comprises ministry officials and experts and advises the minister on forest clearances for a project.
The meetings of the environment appraisal committees (EAC) were being held regularly, another government official said, also declining to be named. “We were holding meetings and deciding about clearances. Now we have started sending files to the minister to grant the final clearances."
Industry lobby groups, including Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, had written to EC to allow the environment ministry to go ahead with clearances as the stalling of clearances for industrial projects was bound to have an effect on the economy.
“These are routine clearances and there is a process that is followed," said Seema Arora, executive director of CII. “A whole lot of costs go up if the clearance is not given on time."
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