Centre identifies green hurdles behind stalled investments

NEW DELHI: The Centre seems to have officially identified environment and forest clearances as principal reasons behind stalled investments, with a key central arm seeking details on projects hobbled by green concerns.

The query comes as a follow up to the Prime Minister's recent announcement that the Centre would push investments above Rs 1,000 crore by monitoring their progress through an Investment Tracking System. The renewed resolve to reinvigorate investment climate was made at a meeting called by the PMO to shrug off impression of policy paralysis.

The government has sought to know specific reasons behind sluggish movement of projects and environment and forest clearances appear to be a key concern in the minds of the top brass.

The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC), in a letter on June 14, asked all ministries to furnish details of public-sector projects above Rs 1,000 crore that are held up. While seeking reasons for the delay, it says, "You may also like to indicate whether there are any sector specific issues such as environment and forest clearances which may be causing delays. If so, these may please be elaborated."

The green clearances have been UPA's bugbear, with several Union ministries erupting in protest against the ministry of environment and forests' activism since 2009. Policymakers read NMCC's specific reference to forest clearances as indicative of the mood at the top.

NMCC will gather projects held up by green concerns, and the PMO may then step in to resolve. The industry has often pleaded with the government to push for early clearances.

The unending confrontation between MOEF and infrastructure ministries has been the bane of Manmohan Singh regime. There were high-profile clash like over 'go/no-go areas' for coal and mining, refusal to relax stringent environment norms for National Manufacturing and Investment Zones. The forest rights clearance delayed many a mega project.

The red flagging of 6-million-tonne Vedanta aluminum project, Rs 50,000-crore POSCO integrated steel project and several coal mining proposals across the country, led to worries that zero-tolerance on environment would undo the growth story by discouraging investments.

The infrastructure ministries resent strict the norms laid down by laws. The project developers have to secure two clearances from MOEF under the Environment Protection Act, 1976, and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, besides other approvals from the states. While large projects have to seek environment clearance only at the central level, the forest clearance process begins at the district level through states and often takes long to reach the central review panels.