12.5k projects given green clearance in 2022, Lok Sabha told

The number of environment, forest, wildlife and coastal zone regulation clearances granted in India jumped 21 times in five years -- from 577 in 2018 to 12,496 in 2022 (also the highest in five years), the environment ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The clearances were given through the Parivesh portal, junior environment minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said, responding to a question by Pocha Brahmananda Reddy and Beesetti Venkata Satyavathi, MPs from Andhra Pradesh.

The ministry has made several policy and technological interventions to remove redundancy and streamline the clearance process with environmental safeguards, he said. The average time taken to provide approvals at the central level has reduced significantly from more than 150 days in 2019 to less than 70 days in 2022, he added.

“All processing of proposals for grant of environmental clearance is on the basis of Environment Impact Assessment/Environment Management Plan, examined by the duly constituted Expert Appraisal Committees (EACs) and final approval is given only after incorporating general and specific conditions so as to ensure compliances of environmental standards and safeguards,” he said.

Also Read| India wants to be part of solution, not problem, in climate change debate: Yadav

The single-window system ensures ease of doing business, he said. “The existing PARIVESH portal launched at the Central level in August 2018 has met its objectives and facilitated uninterrupted services to the industries even during the difficult period of Covid,” Choubey said.

The central government will use the geographic information system to grant faster environmental clearances for infrastructure projects through the recently launched Parivesh 2.0, HT reported on December 2. The use of technology will further reduce the time taken to approve proposals by as much as 30%, officials had said.

“It is important to bring efficiency and professionalism to the environmental regulatory system,” said Kanchi Kohli, legal researcher at the Centre for Policy Research, a think tank. “At the same time, the quality and veracity of the decision-making process are equally important as the outcomes have a direct bearing on socioeconomic relationships and ecological networks. Such a system can also help strengthen regulatory practice and institutional frameworks.”