Government never imposed penalty of Rs 200 crore on Adani port and SEZ, says Anil Madhav Dave

NEW DELHI: The government has "never" imposed a penalty of Rs 200 crore on Adani port and SEZ, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

"The government has never imposed the penalty of Rs 200 crore on Adani port and SEZ and accordingly the question of withdrawl does not arise," Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said in a written reply.

The Environment Ministry had earlier in July termed as "incorrect" reports that Adani Port and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ) was spared a hefty fine of Rs 200 crore for environmental damage during construction of Mundra port.

The Ministry had said that it had imposed "more serious" responsibility on the firm without any cost limit.

"The inference drawn by the news report is not correct. The present government has not cancelled fine of Rs 200 crore. This decision of the ministry is much more stringent than asking for Rs 200 crore from APSEZL...

"...because here in this case whatever has been recommended by the Sunita Narain Committee for damage restoration and further conservation has to be borne by APSEZL which otherwise was limited to Rs 200 crore," the Ministry had said in a statement earlier.

Dave in July in Rajya Sabha had said, "No penalty was imposed by the Ministry for violating conditions of environment, forest, coastal regulation zone clearance in the last two years."

He was asked whether the government has waived the penalty imposed on certain companies recently.