Abstract:
The research study attempts to conduct a comprehensive review of Environmental
Impact Assessment (hereafter referred to as “EIA”) regime in India. It attempts to draw
the contours of the country’s environmental governance through the lens of political
economy. To that end, the research study encapsulates analysing the primary aspects of
environmental regulation specifically for EIA as a policy tool. First, it covers a metaanalysis of the evolution of EIA policies, laws, and related ordinances. Second, the
study involves the analysis of individual cases for assessing the efficacy of the appraisal
procedure. Third, as an ancillary aspect of the study, case law analysis has been
conducted in order to delineate the problematic areas which were grounds for the
judiciary to overturn Environment Clearances (hereafter referred to as “EC”) which
were already granted to the respective project proponents. The key findings and
observations from the study suggests that the evolution of EIA laws has been embedded
in the political-economic context which runs parallel to it, starting from the onset of
1991 liberalisation reforms to the introduction of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the policy
consciousness of the country post 2015. Secondly, the assessment of the appraisal
process followed by the EAC and the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate
Change (MoEFCC) suggest that it is skewed in favour of the proponents, i.e., the
procedures do exhibit pro-industrial tendencies within the EIA regime. Major
shortcomings were highlighted in the post-EC compliance monitoring regime of the
MoEFCC. Lastly, the aforesaid observations were reaffirmed with the analysis of the
National Green Tribunal’s orders in some of the cases related to EIAs.
