NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has introduced several measures aimed at facilitating smoother business operations while accelerating the process for obtaining environmental clearances.
During a recent workshop in Delhi, Rajat Agarwal, the Joint Secretary at MoEFCC, announced that the average time to secure an Environmental Clearance (EC) has drastically reduced from 120 days to just 57 days.
This improvement is part of the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to enhance the efficiency of environmental regulations and approvals across the country. To monitor the progress of applications and evaluate approval timelines, MoEFCC holds quarterly review meetings with State-level Expert Appraisal Committees.
This initiative is aimed at ensuring timely approvals, especially for the real estate sector. Agarwal, alongside senior officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), engaged with participants from various industries, particularly real estate, to discuss ways to further streamline the EC process.
The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), representing private real estate developers in India, collaborated with MoEFCC and CPCB to organise the high-level workshop.
CREDAI President Shekhar Patel expressed gratitude for the strides made by MoEFCC and CPCB in addressing the concerns of the real estate sector. Nevertheless, Patel emphasised that CREDAI members are advocating for a further reduction of the EC processing time to 45 days.
“We are not seeking any relaxation of compliance requirements or dilution of environmental standards; our request is strictly about minimising timelines,” he stated. CREDAI acknowledged the significant reduction in the EC timeline but underscored the need for additional steps to achieve the 45-day target while maintaining adherence to environmental regulations.
The organisation believes that a timely and efficient approval process will significantly enhance the ease of doing business and aid in the expeditious execution of real estate projects. MoEFCC aimed to clarify provisions related to phase-wise Consent to Establish (CTE) and called for their uniform implementation across states.
Other initiatives include streamlined approval processes, clearer Terms of Reference (ToR), and technology-driven systems like PARIVESH, which collectively aim to simplify the environmental clearance framework for the real estate industry.