Govt speeds up process to give nod to projects

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 17

The Haryana Government has decided to give consent to establish (CTE) construction projects and environmental clearance (EC) in one go. With this, it aims at speeding up the process of giving clearances.

State Environment Minister Vipul Goel announced this during a roundtable meeting of construction and real estate companies here on Tuesday.

Earlier, companies had to first obtain an EC and then apply for the CTE.

“The decision will be implemented once the state government nominates an official of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board to the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) with powers to decide CTE cases,” he said.

The official will give the CTE to projects once the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) grants the EC.

“The board and the Environment Department have been advised to immediately take steps for implementing the decision,” the minister said. He, meanwhile, claimed the department had taken several pro-industry efforts under the ease of doing business initiative. “The department will emphasise on submission of study reports by real estate companies based on the standard terms of references (approved by the Centre for identified projects, including building construction/township area development projects).

This, Goel said, would permit realtors to conduct studies in advance before the submission of online applications.