Lok Sabha Question No. 19 (STARRED), answered on 2015-07-21
Subject: Environmental/Forest Clearance for Major Projects
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, P.P. CHAUDHARY

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

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.19 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2015

## Environmental/Forest Clearance for Major Projects

* 19. SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI: SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

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

- (a) whether a number of major projects including those of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation for grant of environmental/forest clearances are pending with the Government;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the reasons therefor including the present status of each of the project, sector and State-wise;
- (c) the  number  of  proposals/projects  seeking  environmental/forest  clearances  received  online through the web portal and the details of such projects/proposals cleared so far in respect of Government and Non-GovernmentalOrganisations since the introduction of online submission of proposals/projects for environmental/forest clearances; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to clear all the pending projects expeditiously?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

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

****

Statement referred to in reply to Parts (a) to (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 19 for reply  on  21 st July,  2015  regarding  'Environmental/Forest  Clearance  for  Major  Projects' raised by ShriChandra Prakash Joshi and Shri  P.P. Chaudhary.

( a) & ( b)   The  offshore  and  on-shore  oil  and  gas  exploration,  development  &  production activity  listed  at  item  no.  1(b)  in  the  Schedule  of  Environment  Impact  Assessment  (EIA), Notification  2006  requires  prior  Environmental  Clearance  (EC).  While  granting  EC,4  stage processes namely Screening, Scoping, Public Consultation and Appraisal of project are involved.

Total 24 Ecs have been granted to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) since May 2014 till 17.07.2015. Presently, 08 projects of ONGC  are under appraisal for EC. Out of these,03projectshave  been  recommended  by  the  Expert  Appraisal  Committee  (EAC)  but  are withheld  for  want  of  Stage-1  Forest  Clearance.  Besides,one  project  is  under  consideration  for Coastal  Regulation  Zone  (CRZ)  Clearance.  Status  of  cases  granted  with  EC  and  pending  for ECin respect of ONGC isAnnexed.

(c)  & (d) Since inception of online system from 1 st July 2014, a total of 711 proposals for EC have been accepted, which are at various stages of appraisal/approvals.Out of which,213ECshave been granted as on 17.07.2015.

As  regard  Forest  Clearance,  total  1,630  proposals  under  the  Forest  (Conservation)  Act,  1980 have  been  accepted  by  the  State/UT  Administration  since  15 th July  2014.  Out  of  these,  233 proposals have been accorded 'in-principle' approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

Apart  from  online  system,  Government  has  taken  various  steps  for  speedy  environmental clearance of projects. Among  these,  Terms  of  References at scoping stage have  been standardized  to  facilitate  timely  collection  of  environment  monitoring  data  and  preparation  of Impact Assessment Reports. Validity of environment clearance has also been extended from 5 to 7 years to allow uninterrupted project activities. Declaring Eco-sensitive Zone for the protected areas.

Similarly, for expeditingthe process of Forest Clearance,several steps have been taken such as (i) operationalisation of GIS based decision support system; (ii) delegation of power to Regional empowered Committee to dispose off linear proposals, General approval under F (C) Act, 1980 for linear diversion within 100 km of areal distance from Line of Actual Control (iii) Notification of Forest  ( Conservation ) 2 nd Amendment Rules 2014.

****

## Status of EC granted and that are pending to ONGC

## A List of EC granted to ONGC from 1 st July 2014 to till date

|   S.N. | Title of Project                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | State          | EC granted on   |
|--------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|-----------------|
|      1 | Development of North Karanpura CBM Block NK- CBM-2001/1 in Jharkhand by M/s ONGC Ltd. - Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Jharkhand      | 12.05.2015      |
|      2 | Additional Exploratory Drilling of 35 Wells in KG Offshore (IA, IB & IG, IE and IF) Block in Andhra Pradesh by M/s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGCL) - Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                                                                  | Andhra Pradesh | 13.04.2015      |
|      3 | Additional Exploratory Drilling (28 Wells) in KG (On- land) PML acreages of Krishna District, Additional Drilling (24 Wells) in KG Basin on land PML of West Godavari District and Additional Exploratory Drilling (13 Wells) on land PML acreages of East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh by M/s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGCL) - Amendment in Environmental Clearance reg. | Andhra Pradesh | 23.03.2015      |
|      4 | Exploratory Drilling (3 wells) in Bengal Onshore Block WB-ONN-2005/3, West Bengal under NELP-VII by M/s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGCL) - Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                                                                               | West Bengal    | 22.01.2015      |
|      5 | Exploratory Drilling (6 wells) in Bengal Onshore Block WB-ONN-2005/4, West Bengal under NELP-VII by M/s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGCL) - Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                                                                               | West Bengal    | 22.01.2015      |
|      6 | Exploratory Drilling (3 wells) in Bengal Onshore Block WB-ONN-2005/3, West Bengal under NELP-VII by M/s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGCL) - Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                                                                               | West Bengal    | 22.01.2015      |
|      7 | Drilling of 9 Exploratory Wells in Kutch Offshore NELP-IX Block GK-OSN-2010/1, GK-OSN- 2010/2 in West Coast of India by M/s ONGC Ltd. -Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | Gujarat        | 22.01.2015      |
|      8 | Exploratory Drilling of 3 wells of M/s ONGC in Bengal Onshore Block WB-ONN-2005/2 under NELP-VII, West Bengal - Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | West Bengal    | 23.01.2015      |
|      9 | Development Drilling of 30 Wells (on-shore) in Cauvery Basin in 7 Blocks (On-shore), Greater Narimanam ML Block, Adiyakkamangalam ML Block, Nannilam-I &Nannilam-II ML Block, Kali & Kali # 6 ML Block, Kuthanallur ML Block, Greater Kovikalapal ML Block and Pundi ML Block, Tamil Nadu by M/s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGCL) - Environmental Clearance reg.                      | Tamil Nadu     | 30.01.2015      |
|     10 | Exploratory Drilling of 3 Wells in Chambal Valley Vindhyan (NELP-VI Block VN-ONN-2004/2), Frontier Basin ONGC, Village Dholam, Tehsil-ChippaBarod, District Baran, Rajasthan by M/s ONGC- Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                                          | Rajasthan      | 22.01.2015      |

## Annexure

|   11 | Drilling of 25 Nos. Wells in 885.35 Sq. Km area of Jaiselmer Basin (comprises of 04 ML and one PEL Block) by M/s ONGC Ltd.- Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                 | Rajasthan        | 26.11.2014   |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|--------------|
|   12 | Additional Exploratory Drilling (01 well) in Kangra-Mandi under PEL Block, Himachal Pradesh by M/s ONGC Ltd. - regarding amendment in EC.                                                                                                | Himachal Pradesh | 24.12.2014   |
|   13 | Exploration Drilling of 10 Wells (On-shore) in NELP- VIII Block CB-ONN-2009/4 in Western Basin in Vadodara, District Gandhinagar, Gujarat by M/s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGCL)- Amendment in Environmental Clearance reg. | Gujarat          | 24.12.2014   |
|   14 | Development Drilling of 18 Wells at West Godavari and Krishna Districts, Andhra Pradesh by M/s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) -Environmental Clearance reg.                                                              | Andhra Pradesh   | 25.11.2014   |
|   15 | Exploration Drilling of 103 wells in 30 Blocks or Western On-shore Basin, District Mehsana&Patan, Gujarat by M/s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGCL) - Environmental Clearance reg.                                          | Gujarat          | 25.11.2014   |
|   16 | Drilling of 350 Development Wells of M/s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGCL) in Mehsana Asset in District Mehsana, Patan, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat - Environmental clearance reg.                                          | Gujarat          | 26.11.204    |
|   17 | Captive Power Plant with installed steam & power capacity of 880 TPH & 195 MW of M/s ONGC Petro Addition Ltd. (OPaL) at Dahej Petrochemical Complex, Village Ambhetha, Taluka Vagra, district Bharuch, Gujarat                           | Gujarat          | 03.07.2014   |
|   18 | Exploratory & Development Drilling of 8 wells of M/s ONGC, in Khubal Discovery Block AA-ONN-2001/1,East Tripura, District North Agartala, Tripura (EC)                                                                                   | Tripura          | 23.07.2014   |
|   19 | Explr. Drilling (2 wells) of M/s ONGC in Purnea Basin, West Bengal Onshore Block PA-ONN-2005/2 under NELP-VII (EC)                                                                                                                       | West Bengal      | 23.07.2014   |
|   20 | Exploratory Drilling in Anadaman (offshore) Blocks AN-DWN-2009/1, AN-DWN-2009/3 & AN/DWN-2009/5 under NELP-VIII of M/s ONGC Ltd. in Andaman Offshore (EC)                                                                                | Andaman          | 23.07.2014   |
|   21 | Eight Expl. Drilling Well of M/s ONGC in NELP-VI Block KG-OSN-2004/1, KG Offshore, A.P. (EC)                                                                                                                                             | Andhra Pradesh   | 23.07.2014   |
|   22 | Exploratory Drilling of additional 10 wells of M/s ONGC, in Onshore NELP-IV Block CY-ONN-2002/2, Cauvery Basin, TN (EC)                                                                                                                  | TamilNadu        | 23.07.2014   |
|   23 | Exploratory Drilling (6 wells) of M/s ONGC in Bengal Onshore Block WB-ONN-2005/4, West Bengal under NELP-VII in 4 districts of 24 Parganas (N), Nadi, Burdwan and Hooghly, W.B. (EC)                                                     | West Bengal      | 26.05.2014   |
|   24 | Exploratory drilling of 67 wells in 23 Blocks of Western Onshore Basin of M/s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. , Baroda, Gujarat (EC)                                                                                                | Gujarat          | 26.05.2014   |

## B List of Projects awaiting for Environmental Clearance/Forest Clearance/Coastal Regulation Zone

|   S.N. | Subject                                                                                                                                                   | Date of submission of application   | State          | Status                                                                                                                                                         |
|--------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      1 | Exploratory Drilling of 35 Wells in L-1 PML, Kuthalam PML, Kali &Greator Kali PML, Bhuvangiri PML and Neyveli PML in Cauvery Basin, Tamilnadu by M/s ONGC | 31 May 2015                         | Tamil Nadu     | Considered in the 40 th EAC (I) during 18 th - 19 th May, 2015. The Committee recommended the proposal for grant of EC. Proposal is under process.             |
|      2 | Development Drilling of 40 wells at East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna District Andhra Pradesh                                                      | 30 Apr 2015                         | Andhra Pradesh | Considered in the 38 th EAC (I) during 20 th - 21 st April, 2015. The Committee recommended the proposal for grant of EC. The proposal is under submission.    |
|      3 | Development drilling of 45 wells at Block KG-DWN- 98/2,KG offshore, Tehsil Allavaram, A.P                                                                 | 27 Feb 2015                         | Andhra Pradesh | Considered in the 42 nd EAC (I) during 16-17 th June, 2015. The Committee recommended the proposal for grant of EC. File is under submission.                  |
|      5 | Exploratory Drilling of 10 Wells in NELP-VI, Onshore Block CY-ONN- 2004/2 in Ariyalur District, Tamil Nadu by M/s ONGC                                    | 01 May 2015                         | Tamil Nadu     | Considered in the 42 nd EAC (I) during 16- 17 th June, 2015. The Committee recommended the proposal for grant of EC. Proposal is under process.                |
|      6 | Exploratory drilling ( 9 wells) in Pre- NELP Block AA- ONJ/2 at district Cachar, Assam by M/s ONGC Ltd.                                                   | 09 Jan 2015                         | Assam          | Considered in the 38 th EAC (I) during 20 th - 21 st April, 2015. The Committee recommended the proposal for grant of EC. Stage-I forest clearance is awaited. |
|      7 | Development Drilling in 3 onshore Wells in Khoraghat Extension ML Block KHDD, KHDF                                                                        | 10 th September, 2014               | Assam          | EAC recommended the proposal on 29 th - 30 th October, 2014. Stage-I forest                                                                                    |

|    | &KHDE, Assam by M/s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGCL) - Environmental Clearance reg.                                                                                                                                                  |                      |                | clearance is awaited.                                                                                                                   |
|----|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------|----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 8  | Development of Vashishta and S-1 fields of K.G. offshore, Eastern Offshore Asset at Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh and expansion of Odalarevu Onshore Terminal, A.P. by M/sOil& Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGCL) - Environmental Clearance reg. | 11 th February, 2014 | Andhra Pradesh | EAC recommended the proposal on 23 rd - 24 th June, 2014. Stage-I forest clearance is awaited.                                          |
|    | Coastal Regulation Zone ( CRZ)                                                                                                                                                                                                                |                      |                |                                                                                                                                         |
| 9  | CRZ Clearance for rerouting of exposed pipeline of 42' south Basin HaziraTrunkiline (SBHT) as permanent remedial measures by M/s ONGC Ltd                                                                                                     |                      | Gujarat        | The proposal was considered by EAC in its meeting held during 19 th - 21 st May, 2015 and recommended for clearance. File under process |