NEW DELHI: The government has digitised the compliance process for environmental clearances linked to industrial expansion, in a move aimed at easing regulatory burdens and accelerating project approvals, said two officials aware of the development.
The ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) has made the process of obtaining certified compliance reports (CCR) for industrial expansion proposals digital through the existing PARIVESH portal, aiming to ease procedures for businesses seeking environmental clearance (ECs). Launched in August 2018, PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous, and Environmental Single-window Hub) is a central government digital platform, which automates and streamlines the process for businesses and developers to apply for and track mandatory environmental and ecological clearances.
The online system will enable industries to file compliance reports pertaining to projects where environmental clearance is needed, upload mandatory documents and track approval status through a single digital platform, reducing paperwork and procedural delays, the officials said, requesting anonymity.
"It will be useful for those projects which require environmental clearance. The move will benefit medium and large scale industries as the entire process can now be completed online. Once all the documents are uploaded, ministry officials will conduct on-site inspections and geo-tag the premises, a move that is also expected to enhance transparency in the system,” said the first official cited above.
Earlier, companies were required to approach regional offices physically to obtain compliance reports on whether existing projects were adhering to environmental clearance conditions before applying for expansion approvals.
Under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) rules, companies planning to expand existing projects must first obtain a compliance report from the ministry’s regional offices to show they are following the environmental conditions attached to their current clearance. These reports are essential for obtaining ECs for project expansions.
"The mechanism is designed to improve transparency, strengthen monitoring of environmental norms and reduce turnaround time for clearances, aligning with the government’s broader ease-of-doing-business agenda," said the second official.
Queries emailed to the MoEFCC on 15 May remained unanswered.
India had 260,000 formal manufacturing units at the end of FY24, according to the latest available Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) Report by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.
These factories accounted for 15% of India’s total nominal gross value added (GVA) in FY26, according to the second advance estimates of annual gross domestic product (GDP) published by the statistics ministry in February this year.
While micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) accounted for about a third of this output, larger and more organised manufacturing units, which are often looking for expansion opportunities and mandatory environmental clearances, contributed about two-thirds.
Industry representatives welcomed the initiative, saying a streamlined compliance process could significantly reduce paperwork. According to them, the digitisation of environmental clearance compliance is a highly progressive reform that will benefit not only MSMEs but also large and non-MSME industries across sectors.
"A streamlined digital approval ecosystem will accelerate industrial expansion, strengthen investor confidence, and support India’s manufacturing and infrastructure growth while ensuring effective environmental monitoring and regulatory accountability," said Saurabh Sanyal, secretary general of industry lobby Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India).
Industry relief
The move could also unlock faster growth for India’s MSMEs, according to the industry. “The move to make the compliance process fully online will significantly benefit industries by reducing paperwork, cutting procedural delays and eliminating the need for repeated visits to regional offices,” said Badish Jindal, president, World MSME Forum.
Indian industries require multiple environmental clearances from the government for expansion. While some sectors require 2-4 clearances, other, more polluting industries may require more than a dozen approvals, according to industry stakeholders.
The digitisation of environmental clearances through the PARIVESH portal has led to more approvals being granted each year, government data showed. A March 2023 parliamentary disclosure by the environment ministry showed the number of clearances rising to 12,496 in 2022 from 577 in 2018. These clearances include environmental clearances, forest clearances, wildlife clearances, and coastal zone regulation approvals.