KOCHI: In a big boost to the Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) LPG Terminal project at Puthuvype, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the terminal Virudha Janakiya Samara Samithi’s appeal against an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT ) and refused to interfere with the extension of environment clearance (EC) given to the Rs 2,200-crore project.
The IOC earlier had its EC extended for another three years by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) as it could not complete the project within the original term due to the Samara Samithi’s ongoing agitation.The agitators had filed a petition before the NGT bench against the extension of EC but it was rejected because they could not offer any reason for not filing the appeal within the time stipulated under the NGT Act, said officials.
Considering the project’s national importance, K K Venugopal, Attorney General of India, appeared for IOC. He told the court no work of the project could be done since February 2017.
Now, the apex court, having dismissed the appeal against the NGT order, the extension of the EC granted cannot be questioned anymore. The success of the petroleum behemoth, however, is limited to the courts. The LPG import terminal was proposed in 2009 and IOC received a nomination in March 2013. A concession agreement was signed in 2015 but an indefinite strike by the residents of Puthuvype stopped the construction.