CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has categorically said that no new hydrocarbon projects will be permitted in the Cauvery delta region which has been notified as Protected Special Agriculture Zone (PSAZ). He was replying to DMK MLAs in the Assembly on Wednesday. The State government will also be scrapping some of the old projects that are yet to obtain either Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) or Petroleum Mining Lease (PML).
Official records accessed by Express reveal that over 350 hydrocarbon well proposals as old as 2016 will be affected. As on December 19, 2019, drilling of wells in seven blocks in Madanam field, Pandanallur field, Karaikal and Neduvasal by ONGC, Vedanta and GEM Laboratories Private Limited are pending for PEL and PML as the Technical Expert Committee advised against oil and gas exploration owing to local agitation.
Top official in the Industries Department told Express that even the old proposals where drilling operations have not been carried out as yet will be considered new proposals and are prohibited. “For instance, Vedanta was awarded two blocks, wherein it proposed to drill 274 wells investing a whopping `13,538 crore. The government has not granted any permission for it and no work has commenced. But most of the block area falls in the notified delta region. So, the company cannot undertake any drilling as per the PSAZ notification,” the official said. The other issue raised in the Assembly was CAA. Responding to DMK chief MK Stalin during zero hour, Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar said, “The State government will not adopt a resolution against CAA as it will be tantamount to cheating the public.”
‘Existing projects won’t get affected’
However, the existing projects where drilling is carried out and production has begun pending PML will be not get affected, the official clarified. Even the Chief Minister said the existing projects will not come under the ambit of the new Act. “The oil companies must have invested hundreds of crores and if the government bans existing projects, they will go to court and compensation will have to be paid,” he said. After the licensing period expires, the operator must relinquish entire contract area except places where discoveries are made.