As told to Parliament (July 30, 2026): 20 projects granted environmental clearance in protected areas, eco-sensitive zones in two years
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change informed the Rajya Sabha on 30 July 2026 that 20 infrastructure projects located wholly or partly within protected areas, eco-sensitive zones, or eco-sensitive areas received environmental clearance during 2024-25 and 2025-26.
The reply stated that these clearances were granted after following the applicable environmental clearance process.
In a related reply, the Advisory Committee constituted under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 examined 775 forest-land diversion proposals between July 2023 and May 2026, recommending 378 (about 48.8%) for Stage-I (in-principle) approval.
The information was placed on record as a written reply, a routine constitutional mechanism through which the executive answers member queries during a parliamentary session.
Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 — Category A and the Protected-Area Trigger
The EIA Notification, 2006, issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, mandates prior environmental clearance for specified categories of projects and classifies them as Category A (cleared by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on the recommendation of an Expert Appraisal Committee) or Category B (cleared by State-level authorities on the recommendation of a State/Union Territory Expert Appraisal Committee, split further into B1, requiring an EIA report, and B2, which does not).
Key Details
- A project that would otherwise be Category B is automatically escalated to Category A if it falls within 10 km of a protected area notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, a critically polluted area, an eco-sensitive zone, an inter-State boundary, or an international boundary — regardless of the project's own size.
- Category A projects require a public hearing (with limited exceptions) and appraisal by the Union-level Expert Appraisal Committee before the Ministry grants or refuses clearance.
- Clearance under the EIA Notification is legally separate from forest clearance under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 — a single project located in a forest area inside a protected area's eco-sensitive zone may need both approvals independently.
The 20 projects cited in the parliamentary reply, being located within protected areas or eco-sensitive zones, would ordinarily fall within this heightened Category A scrutiny track under the EIA Notification, 2006, rather than the lighter Category B process.
Eco-Sensitive Zones — Origin and Legal Basis
An Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) is a buffer area notified around a National Park or Wildlife Sanctuary under Section 5(1) read with Section 3(2)(v) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, intended to regulate (not prohibit) activities that could adversely affect the protected area, acting as a "shock absorber" between the protected core and surrounding land uses.
Key Details
- Following a 2002 National Board for Wildlife proposal and subsequent Supreme Court proceedings arising from a Goa Foundation petition, the Court has directed that every protected area have a notified ESZ, with a default minimum extent of at least 1 km from the boundary in the absence of a specific proposal.
- Regulated activities inside an ESZ (varying by notification) typically include restrictions on commercial mining, polluting industries, and major construction, while permitting regulated agriculture, eco-tourism, and other low-impact uses.
- Proposals for projects within an ESZ or protected area were, per Supreme Court direction, required to be referred to the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife for scrutiny before clearance.
The 20 clearances reported to Parliament fall within or partly within such protected areas and their eco-sensitive zones, making the ESZ's regulate-don't-prohibit legal character — and the associated Standing Committee/National Board for Wildlife scrutiny — directly relevant to how such clearances are examined.
Forest (Conservation) Law — the Advisory Committee under Section 3
The Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 (the renamed Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, following the 2023 amendment) requires prior Central Government approval before forest land is diverted to non-forest use; Section 3 empowers the Central Government to constitute an Advisory Committee — commonly called the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) — to examine such diversion proposals and recommend approval or rejection.
Key Details
- Diversion proposals typically proceed in two stages: Stage-I (in-principle) approval, followed by compliance with conditions (such as compensatory afforestation and Net Present Value payment) before Stage-II (final) approval is granted.
- Between July 2023 and May 2026, the Advisory Committee examined 775 proposals and recommended 378 (about 48.8%) for Stage-I approval, reflecting the committee's screening role rather than automatic clearance of all applications.
- The 1980 Act (renamed in 2023) also introduced statutory exemptions for certain categories of land and linear infrastructure projects near international borders, a change UPSC has tested for its impact on forest-cover safeguards.
The forest-diversion figures reported alongside the protected-area clearance data show the twin-track regulatory architecture — environmental clearance under the EIA Notification and forest clearance under the Van Adhiniyam — that infrastructure projects in or near protected forest and wildlife areas must separately satisfy.
- 20 projects granted environmental clearance in protected areas/eco-sensitive zones/eco-sensitive areas during 2024-25 and 2025-26, per a Rajya Sabha reply on 30 July 2026.
- Reply given by the Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- Advisory Committee under Section 3 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980: examined 775 forest-land diversion proposals (July 2023–May 2026); 378 (48.77%) recommended for Stage-I approval.
- EIA Notification, 2006: projects within 10 km of a Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 protected area, an eco-sensitive zone, or an inter-State/international boundary are treated as Category A regardless of project size.
- Eco-Sensitive Zones: default minimum extent of at least 1 km from a protected area's boundary where no specific proposal exists, per Supreme Court direction following Goa Foundation litigation.