The Union Ministry of Environment has accorded environmental clearance to 2,468 A category projects over the last five years. Maharashtra and Gujarat top the list, getting clearance for 443 and 390 projects. respectively.

Interestingly, 50 per cent of these projects (1,239) are in five States — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

A category projects include all physical infrastructure whose size and cost is greater than certain minimum levels as defined in the Schedule. Environmental clearances for these projects are granted at the Central level. Physical infrastructure includes projects in the ports, highways, water and sanitation, urban transport, and solid waste management sectors.

To facilitate the creation of jobs without harming the environment, the project proponents are required to submit Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)/Environment Management Plan (EMP) along with their application for environmental clearance and details of employment generation, the Ministry informed the Lok Sabha in March.

“These reports are appraised by the sector-specific Expert Appraisal Committees (EACs) and only after careful analysis of all the aspects, including their impact on environment, and social and economic benefits, is ECaccorded to the project,” the Ministry added.

The break-up

As per the Ministry’s data, 33 per cent of the cleared projects are from Maharashtra and Gujarat. Delhi (145), Uttar Pradesh (143), Andhra Pradesh (138), Rajasthan (136), Tamil Nadu (111), Haryana (106) and Odisha (101) are the States that have got clearance for more than 100 projects. Karnataka (92), West Bengal (83), Telangana (82), Chhattisgarh (71), Punjab (67), Jharkhand (64), Uttarakhand (56) and Madhya Pradesh (53) got the nod for more than 50 projects. Kerala has got clearance for 42 and Bihar for 31 projects.

Not a single project was cleared in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, Goa and Chandigarh.

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