Apex court restores green clearance granted to Adani’s Hazira Port

The Supreme Court has restored the environment clearance granted to Adani Hazira Port Pvt Ltd, a unit of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), setting aside a January 2016 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) cancelling the clearance.

The apex court has also ordered refund of ₹25 crore to Adani Hazira Port which was deposited with the Collector, Surat, with interest accrued thereon.

Adani Hazira Port told the top court in its appeal that the NGT failed to appreciate the facts and no reasons were given in support of the order cancelling the environment clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in May 2013.

The NGT ignored the clearances granted by the statutory authorities and observed that the company damaged mangrove whereas a District Inspector of Land Records (DILR) report showed that the mangrove plantation has been carried out.

“We welcome the ruling of the Supreme Court restoring the environmental clearance granted by MoEF to Adani Hazira Port.

The Adani Group adheres to the laws of the land in which we operate - be it India or any other of the 50 geographies we work in. We are committed to promote a culture seeking continual improvement in environment performance, our company’s programmes and policies ensure timely and effective compliance of all applicable environment regulations,” said Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group.

Adani Hazira Port handles all types of cargo, including bulk, break-bulk, bulk liquid chemicals, petroleum products and edible oil, containers, automotive and crude at Hazira Port. It has a capacity to handle close to 30 million tonnes (mt) of cargo, including 7.50 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

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