No delay in green clearances to West Bengal projects: Centre

New Delhi, Aug 1: The Centre is not giving "step- motherly" treatment to West Bengal while assessing projects for environment clearance and there is no delay on its part as the approval system is online and transparent, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said today.

"Neither this government nor the previous governments have given step-motherly treatment to West Bengal, or for that matter any state in the country," Dave said in response to a question by TMC member Kanwar Deep Singh in the Rajya Sabha.

From 2014-16, the Centre has given approval for preparing 'Terms of Reference' (ToR) for 39 projects out of 51 proposals of the state government.

In case of 15 proposals submitted by the private firms, the Centre has given ToRs for four projects, he said during Question Hour.

"There is no delay as these days everything is online and transparent. The projects are cleared in 190 days. If you say this need to be done in 110 days, we need to think about it," Dave said.

The Minister said proposals for grant of environmental clearance (EC) are considered as per the provisions of Environment Impact Assessment notification 2006, which inter-alia provides timelines for each stage of the EC process.

He said 30 days are specified for prescribing the ToRs, 45 days for public consultation 60 days for appraisal and 45 days for decision and its communication thereafter.

At present, three proposals -- Kolkata Port Trust's proposal to set up a riverine jetty at Haldia dock complex, upgradation of Indian Oil Corporation's Haldia refinery and expansion of Haldia Petrochemicals -- are under consideration for ToRs, Dave added.

PTI