NAGPUR: Taking a cue from Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, the state government has decided to charge companies applying for environmental clearance. The minimum fee is Rs 1 lakh, and maximum Rs15 lakh, with the cost of the project determining the exact fee.

While the government has decided to levy fee it does not seem to give much importance to the agencies that issue clearances. State level expert appraisal committees (SEACs) are not constituted for months after they are dissolved, holding up projects for months. There are three SEACs in the state.

As per central government norms, the big projects are dealt with by ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) while the smaller ones are cleared by state environmental impact assessment authority (SEIAA) and SEACs of the concerned state.

A circular issued by the state environment ministry says that a lot of money is spent on organizing meetings of SEIAA and SEAC, paying monthly salaries of contract staffers, who handle documentation etc. The fee is being charged to recover these expenses.

The state government has taken the decision on the basis of a central government order issued in April 2000, which permits agencies to charge money for environmental impact assessment (EIA) and coastal regulations zone (CRZ) clearances. Tamil Nadu and Gujarat charge money as part of the procedure required for issuing these documents. Secondly, Supreme Court in 1996 had established the principle of 'polluters to pay', which is supported by the Indian Constitution.

The Centre had constituted CRZ Authority and allowed it to charge coastal clearance fee, which is deposited in a separate bank account. SEIAA and SEACs too were constituted under the same notification, and hence they too can charge a fee.

The state government feels that these facts gives it a safe legal footing to charge environmental clearance fee. The rates to be charged by the state committees are same as that of MoEF. For projects up to Rs50 crore it will be Rs1 lakh, for projects between Rs50 and Rs100 crore the fee is Rs3 lakh. The fee is maximum Rs15 lakh for projects of Rs1,000 crore and above.

Commenting on the decision, an industrialist said industries do not mind paying a fee provided they get clearances in time. "Last year, all members of a SEAC had resigned, alleging ill treatment by the government. The government neither tried to persuade them to withdraw their resignations nor showed any expediency in finding replacements. Consequently, sand mining clearances were stuck and instances of illegal mining increased," he said.