From now onwards, the minimum scrutiny fee to be charged by the will be Rs 50,000 while the maximum amount will be Rs 2 lakh, depending upon the total cost of the project, according to a notification issued by the Haryana Government.
In the past, states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra had also imposed processing fees for environmental clearances of projects.
It is decided by the State Government to impose scrutiny fees for projects seeking clearance of the State Environment-impact-assessment”>Environment Impact Assessment Authority. For the projects costing more than Rs 100 crore, the scrutiny fee will be Rs 2 lakh while for projects costing Rs 25- Rs100 crore, the processing fee will be Rs 1.5 lakh, stated the notification issued by SN Roy, Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Environment and Climate-change”>Climate Change Department.
Similarly, for projects with a cost of Rs 5- Rs 25 crore, the environment clearance fee would be Rs 1 lakh while for projects costing upto Rs 5 crore, it will be Rs 50,000.
For mining projects involving Minerals“>Major Minerals like iron, bauxite chromites, lime stone, coal etc. on area more than five hectares, the scrutiny fee to be charged by the government will be Rs 2 lakh while the fee would be Rs 1 lakh for such mining projects on the area upto five hectares.
The processing fee for environment clearance would be Rs 1.5 lakh for mining projects involving minor minerals like quatz, stone and graphite etc. on the area more than five hectares while fee would be Rs 75000 for projects involving minor minerals on area upto five hectares.
Notably, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) in the states are constituted by the Union Government to grant environmental clearances for various projects at state level.
The SEAC scrutinises and refers project proposals to the SEIAA for its appraisal. The SEIAA decides on the issue of environment clearance based on the recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee.