Environment ministry's five step process to faster clearance

The environment ministry used to be the reason behind most project delays. This seems to have changed, according to a government study of over 1,000 projects.

ONLINE WINDOW
Forest & wildlife clearances Terms of Reference (ToR) and Environmental Clearance (EC) State Environment Impact Assessment Authority for category B projects Standardised terms of reference for 38 sectors and a 30-day deadline.

POLICY CHANGES
Simpler rules for diversion of forest land Smoother transfer to new allottees of cancelled coal blocks Regional authorities empowered to handle forest land transfers Tree felling simplified for linear projects Clearance for diversion of forest land for border roads, security infrastructure in 117 Maoist-hit districts.

BASED INDUSTRY CATEGORISATION
Red industries not permitted in ecologically fragile/protected area White industries don’t need clearance. This covers startups too.



PROTECTED AREAS CLEARLY DEMARCATED
Land around protected areas marked prohibited or regulated zone because of default rule In absence of notification, 10 km radius around protected area marked prohibited or regulated Under the National Wildlife Management Plan in last 14 years, notifications for only eight such protected areas issued In last 20 months, 275 eco-sensitive zones around 404 protected areas notified.

TECH HELP GIS based system has reduced time taken to decide on proposals.