Land acquisition proof no longer mandatory for environment clearance for non-coal mining projects

According to a recent Environment Ministry memorandum, non-coal mining project developers will not have to show proof of land acquisition as a pre-requisite for environmental clearance.

Till now the ministry required proof of land acquisition.

However, the criteria were reconsidered following the request that consent of land owners should not be insisted upon while granting environment clearance (EC) for non-coal mining projects and the condition of land acquisition should not be linked with the grant of clearance.

An official memorandum from the ministry said, “The matter was referred to the Non-Coal Mining Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for consideration. After due deliberations, the regional EAC found that the request to exclude consent from land owners at the time of grant of EC for non-coal mining projects appears to be reasonable and can be accepted.”

“Further, the EAC, inter alia, observed that there are several mining projects where mining operations have commenced after grant of EC and land acquisition is still in progress in a phased manner based on requirement.”

Also read: Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan says there is no plan to change the land acquisition policy

The order said “the recommendations of the non-coal mining EAC were examined and comments and inputs on the applicability of the OM (Office Memorandum) dated October 7, 2014, as amended, were sought on other sectors also. Based on the inputs received, it was observed that insisting on land acquisition documents at the time of assessment for EC may not be practical for some other projects”.