The Hindu Business Line : `Exempt individual IT parks from environmental clearance'

THE demand for space from the information technology industry is so huge that if space is not provided within six months of an IT outfit making the demand, the unit could go to another country, said Mr Deepak Parekh, Chairman, Housing Development Finance Corporation.

He was referring to the September 15 Draft Notification of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It proposes certain restrictions and prohibitions on the construction of all residential and non-residential projects, and the development of new towns townships and settlement colonies. The draft requires all real-estate development to seek prior environmental clearance.

This clearance makes sense for an industrial complex, a special economic zone or even a township, but must not be made applicable to individual residential buildings or individual IT parks, said Mr Parekh. He was addressing a joint meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI) on the Draft Notification.

"One of the reasons India is attractive for IT is the cost of real estate, apart from the talent and other factors here," he said. "If you are too expensive, then you lose the distinctive edge." The process required for the clearance will cause too much delay, and the situation is getting totally out of hand, he said. "We need speed in consent," he said.

According to CREDAI and CII, the procedure envisaged is so complicated and time-consuming that it will have a far-reaching effect on the construction projects, adversely affecting the economy.

The associations said they were meeting to decide what to do, with the Ministry of Environment and Forests having invited suggestions/objections on the notification to be offered by November 15, 2005.

CREDAI has already arranged for a White Paper that has been prepared by Ernst & Young on the impact this notification will have on the economy.

According to them, certain States such as Maharashtra and Karnataka may themselves file objections to the notification.

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