The new BJP government intends to bring down the time taken for giving environmental clearances for businesses to as low as around two months. According to officials, this is in tune with the ambitious target of achieving a $5-trillion economy in a few years time.
Currently, the average number of days for getting the clearance is 108 days. Speaking at a conference organised by FICCI and the Ministry of Enivronment, Forest and Climate Change, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the process of granting environmental clearance will become even faster as the government intends to reduce the average number of days for clearance from the current 108 to anywhere from 80 to as less as 70 days.
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Javadekar pointed out that the first Modi government had already eased the process of environment clearance from 640 days earlier to 108. “Unless we implement what we have decided, we can’t achieve our goals. Countries such as the US and the UK implement the laws ruthlessly,” Javadekar said in his address. “We have decided to give importance to the implementation aspect of the industry, and we (also) want to see the disaster management preparedness of the industries,” he added.
Kamal Kishore, Member, National Disaster Management Authority, said, “The ambitious target of making India a $5-trillion economy cannot be achieved without significant investment in the growth of industrial activities in the country. And if the economy has to be sustainable, the growth in industrial sector needs to be matched with growth in resilience to industrial disasters.”