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It is submitted that note of EE ZO dated 12.03.2026, 13.03.2026 and legal opinion given in this case M/s Omaxe Royal Nest Developed by Omaxe Limited, Village Thakarwal, Ludhiana has been read and it has been found as under:
1. The Supreme Court judgment dated 05.08.2025 in Vanashakti v. Union of India dealt with a different issue, namely the validity of the MoEF&CC Notification dated 29.01.2025 and the exemption granted under Note-1 to Entry 8(a) for certain categories of buildings such as industrial sheds, schools, colleges and hostels. The said judgment only quashed the exemption under Entry 8(a) and does not relate to the threshold criteria for township/area development projects under Entry 8(b).
2. Therefore, the legal opinion given in the case of M/s Omaxe Royal Nest Developed by Omaxe Limited, Village Thakarwal, Ludhiana, which is based on Entry 8(b) of the EIA Notification, 2006, is not directly governed by the judgment in Vanashakti v. Union of India.
3. The Proceedings of the 12th Joint Committee meeting of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) Punjab and State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), Punjab held on 09.06.2021 are not received in this office. However, a letter no 417 dated 03.06.2024 of SEIAA written to the Worthy Member Secretary, Punjab Pollution Control Board has been traced in this letter at page no. 2 at para number 1 it has been stated by the SEIAA as under:
"Further, the predecessor SEIA had felt that there was a need for clarification with regard to applicability of ElA notification, 2006 for building construction and area development projects having built-up area less than 1,50,000 sqm and total land area less than 50 Ha. Accordingly, the matter was referred to MoEF&CC by SEIAA. The MoEF&CC vide letter no. I-5/2018/miscellaneous/ENV/205 dated 15.04.2019 has given clarification that the projects with land area less than 50 Ha but built-up area more than 20,000 sqm may be appraised as per the provisions of schedule 8(a) of the ElA notification, 2006 as amended from time to time. Thereafter, the matter was also discussed during joint meeting of SEIAA/SEAC wherein, it was decided that the EC application for building construction and area development projects shall be appraised as per the above clarification given by MoEF&CC."
A copy of the above letter is attached herewith for kind perusal. Further, the Competent Authority of the Board had also written a letter vide no. 10949 dated 09.05.2023 to the Joint Director, MoEF&CC, Chandigarh to clarify the letter no. 205 dated 15.04.2019 w.r.t EIA notification dated 14/9/2006 that in case there is plotted project and the built up area of individual plot in the project is less then 20,000 Sqm and the total built-up area of that project is also less than 1,50,000 Sqm then, the project is not covered under ElA notification dated 14/9/2006. But, if the individual plot area is more than 20,000 Sqm in that plotted project, then the project proponent is bound to obtain environmental clearance under EIA notification dated 14/9/2006. Further, it is intimated that after issuance of the above said clarification by MoEF vide its letter no. 205 dated 15/4/2019, it is felt that the clause 8 (b) of the EIA Notification, 2006 becomes infructuous.
As per the matter taken up with the Concerned division of Head Office, Patiala the reply in this regard yet not received from the Head office, Patiala.
In view of above, it is recommended that the matter be placed before the Worthy Chairperson of the Board so as to take a learned decision in such cases and till the final decision in this matter the application be returned to the project proponent, please.
In view of above, it is the opinion of the undersigned as per the present documents available that at this instant the project needs to obtain EC from SEIAA, Punjab under Cat 8(a) of the schedule appended to the said notification…………………… In light of above, it is recommended that Consent to Establish (CTE) to the project proponent for development of project namely M/s SKB Infra, Vill-Gureh, Ferozepur Road, Ludhiana, Jagroan in an area of 48.5144 acres (234809.575 sq. yards) with residential area of 145571.02 sq. yard and commercial area of 6878.80 sq. yards with 29 farm houses and 40 SCOs may be granted with suitable condition and following additional conditions:- a. No construction activity shall be carried out by the project proponent till the time the Environmental Clearance (EC) is obtained by the project proponent from SEIAA, Punjab. The matter be decided after approval from the Competent Authority of the Board.
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