Government provides clarity on green nod validity

NEW DELHI: Government has said that the validity of environmental clearance given to projects would be in place for seven years in certain cases, as part of its efforts to provide clarity on the applicability of revised norms introduced in April 2015.

On April 29 last year, the Union Environment Ministry had issued a notification extending the validity of EC from five years to seven years. That apart, the EC renewal was allowed for a maximum period of three years.

For extension of EC, the Ministry had specified that an application should be filed before the regulatory authority within the validity period.

However, in the latest office order, the Ministry has clarified that the validity of the EC of the project, which had not completed five years on April 29, 2015, will automatically stand extended to seven years.

If the validity of the EC has expired on the above mentioned date and the project proponent has applied for extension within the validity period of five years, then such environmental clearances will also be extended to seven years.

If the validity of the EC has got expired on April 29, 2015, and the project proponent has not applied for extension within the validity period, then such ECs for extension will be decided on case to case basis, the order said.

It is mandatory to take environment clearance for execution of both 'A' and 'B' category projects in the country. The EC is granted after carefully assessing the environment impact of a project and taking into account the environment management plan.