Delays in environmental clearances were among the key contributors to the policy paralysis that gripped India during the second term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Hence, it comes as no surprise that the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA’s) new environment minister, Prakash Javadekar has emphasized quick clearances after taking charge of the ministry. If past trends are anything to go by, the NDA may well succeed where the UPA failed.

Data collated by Mint shows that during the NDA-I regime, annual forest clearances amounted to an average of 1.34 lakh hectares of land. This declined to 1.07 lakh hectares under the UPA government.

As the accompanying table shows, the decline was particularly sharp during the second term of the UPA government. During UPA I, projects worth around 1.42 lakh hectares of land were cleared annually on average whereas during UPA II, projects worth only 72,335 hectares of land were cleared annually.

While smaller projects were cleared faster during the UPA regime, bigger projects remained stuck. On an average, 790 projects requiring forest clearances were approved annually during the NDA rule. During UPA I, the number stood at around 1365 and during UPA II, around 954 projects requiring forest clearances were approved annually.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via