Lok Sabha Question No. 227 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-06
Subject: Environmental Clearance for Gas Exploratory Projects
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: A. Ganeshamurthi, Uttam Kumar Nalamada Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.227

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.03.2020

## Environmental Clearance for Gas Exploratory Projects

- *227.   SHRI A. GANESHAMURTHI: SHRI UTTAM KUMAR REDDY NALAMADA:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  exempted  onshore  and  offshore  oil  and  gas  exploratory drilling in the country including Cauvery delta zone in Tamil Nadu from the requirement of environmental clearance and Environment Impact Assessment;
- (b)  if so, the details thereof along with the rationale behind such exemption; and;
- (c)  the total number of onshore and offshore oil and gas exploratory drilling projects permitted by the Government across the country during the last three years, project-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) to (c): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

***

Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 227 due for reply on 06.03.2020 regarding 'Environmental Clearance for Gas Exploratory Projects' by SHRI A.  GANESHAMURTHI and SHRI UTTAM KUMAR REDDY NALAMADA, Hon'ble Members of Parliament

- (a) The  Government  has  re-categorized  the  on-shore  and  off-shore  oil  and  gas  exploration projects or activities from Category 'A' to Category 'B2' vide notification number S.O. 236(E) dated the 16 th January, 2020. Any Project Proponent will, in the present scheme of things, have to apply to State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), which is an organ of the  State  Government  and  SEIAA  will  take  a  final  call  in  the  matter.    Therefore,  the  final decision as to whether to allow any particular project in any particular region would continue to vest with the State Government. Further, such projects are also required to obtain consent under Air and Water Acts from State Pollution Control Boards.
- (b) The  Government  has  re-categorized  the  on-shore  and  off-shore  oil  and  gas  exploration projects or activities from Category 'A' to Category 'B2' on the following grounds:-
- i. Exploratory  drilling  is  a  temporary  activity  and  will  be  completed  in  three  to  four months without having any permanent establishment or setup at the exploratory site.
- ii. The exploratory wells are drilled only for appraisal without taking out any commercial production at this stage. It is in fact, a prospecting activity for ascertaining the presence of Hydrocarbons.
- iii. Exploratory drilling involves a small piece of land admeasuring 110X110 sq.m. which has limited scope of waste generation along with minimal environmental impacts for a short span.
- iv. There is no requirement of prior-environmental clearance even in case of exploration of coal and other major or minor minerals,.
- v. Consent  to  establish  and  operate  shall  still  be  required  from  the  respective  State Pollution Control Board or Union Territory Pollution control Committees, as the case may be, to ensure the environmental safeguards.
- (c) Eighteen Prior Environmental Clearances were issued during the year 2015 to 2019. The details of projects issued Prior Environmental Clearance is given in the Annexure.

******

For part (c) of statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 227 due for  reply  on  06.03.2020  regarding  'Environmental  Clearance  for  Gas  Exploratory Projects'  by  SHRI  A.  GANESHAMURTHI  and  SHRI  UTTAM  KUMAR  REDDY NALAMADA, Hon'ble Members of Parliament

Details  exploration  of  Hydrocarbons  projects  issued  Prior  Environmental  Clearance  during 2015 to 2019

|   Sl. | Name of the project                                                                                                                                                                                      | State          | Date of issue of EC   | Project type   |
|-------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|-----------------------|----------------|
|     1 | Onshore Exploration and Development in 2PML Blocks in Districts Cachar and Hailakandi, Assam                                                                                                             | Assam          | 07.08.2019            | New            |
|     2 | Development Drilling of 72 wells in East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh                                                                                                 | Andhra Pradesh | 20.10.2018            | New            |
|     3 | Expansion for development and production of Uber-2 well and Group Gathering Station, Jambusar, Gujarat                                                                                                   | Gujarat        | 06.03.2019            | Expansion      |
|     4 | Proposed Exploratory Drilling of 2 wells in NELP Block AA-ONN-2001/2, Kolasib & Mamit District, Mizoram                                                                                                  | Mizoram        | 28.03.2019            | New            |
|     5 | Exploration in Mumbai Offshore Block MB-OSN- 2005/1(NELP-VII) in west coast of India                                                                                                                     | Maharastra     | 30.04.2019            | New            |
|     6 | Exploration and Development of drilling wells in the existing PML area (PML12.7 sq.km) of Modhera Field at Village Matresan, Tehsil Becharaji, District Mehsana, Gujarat                                 | Gujarat        | 27.12.2019            | Expansion      |
|     7 | Exploration and Development of drilling wells in the existing PML area (PML 4 sq.km) of Baola Field at Village Salajada, Tehsil Bavla, District Ahmedabad, Gujarat by M/s Sun Petrochemicals Pvt. Ltd    | Gujarat        | 20.05.2019            | Expansion      |
|     8 | Development drilling of 200 wells in Sivasagar District, Assam                                                                                                                                           | Assam          | 06.03.2019            | New            |
|     9 | Development Drilling of 4 wells in Borholla ML block, Jorhat District and development drilling of 8 wells in Nambar ML area, East Lakhibari ML area, Khoraghat ML and Khorghat extension ML area in Gola | Assam          | 01.05.2019            | New            |
|    10 | Expansion of Onshore Oil and Gas Production from Existing 300,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) to 400,000 BOPD and 165 Million Standard Feet per Day (MMSCFD) to 750 MMSCFD from RJ-ON-90/1 Block, Barm | Gujarat        | 11.04.2019            | Expansion      |
|    11 | Workover of the temporarily abandoned 2 (sweet gas) wells & 5 nos of additional exploratory /development well in an area of 9.63 sq.km of Achanta filed in West Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh      | Andhra Pradesh | 17.05.2019            | New            |

|   Sl. | Name of the project                                                                                                                                                                                     | State          | Date of issue of EC   | Project type   |
|-------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|-----------------------|----------------|
|    12 | Exploratory/Development Drilling & Production in Bhimanapalli Onshore Contract Area KG/ONDSF/BHIMANAPALLI/2016 at, Bhimanapalli, Nagavaram, Sanavalli of Uppalaguptam Mandal & Lakshmivada, Bantumilli, | Andhra Pradesh | 17.06.2019            | New            |
|    13 | Onshore Oil & Gas Exploratory Drilling and Testing of hydrocarbons in NELP IX Block: AA- ONN-2010/3 in Sadiya Area of Tinsukia district in the state of Assam.                                          | Assam          | 03.07.2019            | New            |
|    14 | Proposed Onshore Oil and Gas development and production activities in the Block CB-ONN- 2010/8, Cambay, Gujarat by M/s Bharat PetroResources Ltd                                                        | Gujarat        | 30.07.2019            | New            |
|    15 | Exploration, Development and Production for Oil &Gas in 21 onshore PML blocks in Upper Assam North, A &AABasin, Sivsagar district, Assam                                                                | Assam          | 19.12.2019            | New            |
|    16 | Onshore Oil & Gas Exploration in 12 ML Blocks of Western Onshore Basin, District Mehsana, Gujarat                                                                                                       | Gujarat        | 06.12.2019            | New            |
|    17 | Drilling of 15 exploratory wells under non forest area in Nohta-Damoh-Jabera PML Block, Vindhyan Basin, Damoh District, Madhya Pradesh                                                                  | Madya Pradesh  | 27.12.2019            | New            |
|    18 | Onshore Exploration of oil and gas from 134 wells in 32 ML blocks in Vadodara, Kheda, Anand, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana, & Sabarkantha districts, Gujarat                                          | Gujarat        | 27.12.2019            | New            |