CHENNAI: The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has formally withdrawn its controversial star-rating system, introduced in January 2022 to assess the efficiency of state environmental bodies in granting clearances for industrial and infrastructure projects.
The move comes following a legal challenge by a Tamil Nadu fishermen’s association, and was recorded in an order issued by the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The NGT bench, comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati, noted in its order that the ministry has “given up” on the system... The learned counsel appearing for the MoEF&CC states that the O.M. dated 17.01.2022 is given up and a new office memorandum regarding the criteria may be developed later. Therefore, we record that the O.M. dated 17.01.2022 becomes inoperative,” the order stated.
The star-rating system, introduced on 17 January 2022, was designed to rank State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAAs) on a 0-to-7 scale based on their speed and adherence to timelines in approving projects under the 2006 Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification.
The ministry had described it as a tool to promote “ease of doing business,” following a November 2021 meeting chaired by then Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba. “This is intended as a mode of recognition and encouragement as well as for prompting improvements where needed,” the original office memorandum (OM) had explained.
The fishermen’s association challenged the OM, stating it was arbitrary and risked diluting environmental scrutiny. Although the Centre claimed last year that the system had never been implemented, it defended the rationale behind it, maintaining that it aligned with the EIA process.
The ministry also linked the system to the Parivesh 1.0 portal, a single-window clearance platform, adding, “Similar functionality was to be developed on PARIVESH 2.0 after revisiting the criteria mentioned in the O.M. dated 17/01/2022.”