Center to form new body to speed up environmental clearances
The government is planning a new standing body, called the Standing Authority on Environment Impact Assessment (SAEIA) or the Standing Committee on Environment Impact Appraisal (SCEIA), to fast-track environmental clearances when state bodies miss deadlines.
If state-level committees take more than 120 days to decide, this central team may step in, aiming to cut delays that slow down projects and frustrate investors.
Concerns raised over potential bias in project reviews
Some legal and environmental experts are uneasy about the Center picking members for this new panel, saying it could affect how independent project reviews are.
Supreme Court advocate Shibani Ghosh highlighted how crucial these committees are for careful checks.
Forestry expert Chetan Agarwal suggested just extending current committee terms instead of adding more bureaucracy.