MUMBAI: Even as chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is wooing investors and trying to make it easier to do business in the state by cutting red tape, the state environment minister has arbitrarily held up clearances for more than 500 industrial, irrigation and mining projects in the state.

Environment minister Ramdas Kadam , from the Shiv Sena, has reportedly asked officials in his department to put on hold the meetings of the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), which clears the projects, till further instructions. The instructions from the minister came in end-April and the committee has not met since, officials familiar with the matter told TOI on the condition of anonymity.

The panel’s job is to clear projects at the state level instead of them having to go all the way to the Ministry of Environment and Forests; it usually meets two to three times a month. Of the 522 projects from across the state awaiting its clearance are Lloyd group’s project in Chandrapur and one by Aditya Brila group in Raigad; also pending are proposals from Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation, Krishna Vally Development Corporation, Mumbai Port Trust, Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation, among others. Some 56 of these proposals were received after the current government took office in November last.

Officials said Kadam has stalled the panel’s meetings to create an artificial pressure situation so that some projects can be cleared on priority. “He wants the agenda for the meeting to be sent to his office, and the panel to clear on priority the proposals that he selects. It has never happened before,” said sources.

Kadam denied that he gave any such instructions. “I have not given any instructions to put the meetings on hold. The panel held its last meeting last Tuesday. Some officials in the department have a vested interest in spreading such false news.”

The function of the SEAC is to speed up administrative approvals and environment clearances for projects in a transparent manner. The panel is constituted by the Centre but works under the state environment department; it has a term of three years. The current committee consists of chairman TC Benjamin, a former IAS officer, and six experts. Benjamin was not available for comment. Principal secretary Malini Shankar, who took charge of the environment department just last week, was also not available for comment.

“On one hand, the government is making efforts to promote the Make in Maharashtra initiative, with the chief minister himself visiting various countries to seek investment, and here is his own minister trying to delay clearance of proposals,” an official said.