NEW DELHI: The UPA government had a tough time dealing with green clearances to infrastructure projects but the NDA government seems to have come prepared to remove all bottlenecks in the process. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on Thursday launched a new online system for environmental clearances to ensure transparency and faster clearances.
The system was launched by Union Minister of Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar, who took charge of the ministry on Thursday. The ministry is also planning to bring some major policy changes to streamline the process of clearances. All big infrastructure projects come to the MoEF for environment and forest clearances.
The new system for online submission of applications for environmental clearances will bring transparency in the application processes, online real-time monitoring and adherence to timelines for verification, stage-wise approval and compliance mechanism and a more user-friendly application process. “There shall be a maximum time limit for the entire approval process, with stage-wise timelines. Continuous efforts shall be made to bring down the timelines for each stage. Every state shall be taken along and the aspirations and difficulties of state governments will be duly considered,” he said. The minister said streamlining of clearance process will be done without making any compromise whatsoever on the ongoing efforts to preserve the environment.
Former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan was criticised by the industry for delaying clearances to important infrastructure projects.
And former PM Manmohan Singh in 2012 had set up Cabinet Committee on Investment to ensure faster clearance.