NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has granted 'in-principle' and 'ex post facto' approval for the diversion of over 77 hectares of forest land in the Kurnool range of the Gani Reserve Forest in Andhra Pradesh.
The move is aimed at an integrated renewable energy project by a private company. However, the committee has instructed the state government to impose penalties on the company for using forest land without following proper procedures.
Besides, the State government also asked to submit a Wildlife Management Plan along with a reclamation and rehabilitation plan for the land that was used without authorisation for non-forestry activities.
The 'ex post facto' approval was sought for the diversion of 77.17 ha of forest land in the Gani Reserve Forest (GRF) for the Integrated Renewable Energy Project (IREP) by Greenko Energies Pvt. Ltd.
The Advisory Committee on Forest Clearance of the MoEFCC, after detailed discussions, recommended the proposal for granting ex post facto 'in-principle' approval for the diversion of forest land.
This includes an additional 46.42 ha of forest land in the Kurnool Range and 30.75 ha of forest land from the Nandyal Division in GRF for the expansion of the already diverted proposal for the establishment of the IREP.
However, the committee has imposed a few additional conditions.
The committee has directed the State Forest Department (SFD) to take action against the officials involved under sections 3A/3B of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, or the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), and to submit a report on this action along with compliance to the 'in-principle' approval.
Regarding penalties, the committee stated that the SFD must penalise the violators based on the net present value (NPV) for illegally using the forest area for non-forest purposes.
The fine will be five times the NPV of the forest land used in violation, plus 12% simple interest from the date the demand is raised until the deposit is made by the user agency into the account of the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
Additionally, the committee directed the State government to obtain a no-objection certificate from the concerned department regarding the diversion of a Nala on the east side of the proposed area and submit the certificate along with the Stage-I compliance report.
Furthermore, the state government must provide a Wildlife Management Plan for the conservation and protection of wildlife in the area, which should be approved by the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW), and include it in the compliance report.
The MoEFCC had issued guidelines on January 21, 2026, stipulating penal compensatory afforestation in cases where forest land has been used in violation of the FCA provisions.
The penal deposit will be verified by the Regional Office in Chennai, and a report will be sent to the Ministry for examination and compliance regarding Stage-I approval.
The remaining forest land that was unauthorizedly used for non-forestry activities must be restored through appropriate reclamation and rehabilitation (R&R) measures, with the costs to be borne by the user agency.
The State Forest Department is required to submit a detailed R&R plan for the area involved in the violation, along with the Stage-I compliance report. The plan must be implemented at the user agency's expense.