FCC

Govt aims speedy clearance of exploration activities

2021-07-27

In a written response to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Rameshwar Teli mentioned that before beginning exploration and production activities, contractors or operators of oil and gas blocks must get statutory permits and approvals from various State and central government bodies.

Petroleum Exploration License (PEL), Petroleum Mining Lease (PML), environmental clearances such as -- environment clearance, forest clearance, wildlife clearance and so on, clearances from the Ministry of Defence, clearance from the Department of Space, Consent to Establish (CTE), Consent to Operate (CTO), and many others are among the clearances and approvals.

Delays in acquiring such clearances and approvals have an impact on the overall timelines and progress of exploration and production projects.

The government has made various efforts in this regard, including:

The Cabinet Secretary has established the Empowered Coordination Committee (ECC) to streamline and accelerate clearance and approvals.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) approved self-certification processes for Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) in an OM dated February 28, 2020. There are 22 processes where Contractor documents are accepted without approval on a self-certification basis.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has launched PARIVESH, a web-based, role-based workflow application designed for online submission and monitoring of proposals submitted by proponents seeking clearances from Central, State, and District authorities for the environment, forest, wildlife, and CRZ.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Defence/Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) developed and implemented e-submission of all applications for MOD-related vessel clearance and MHA-related expat clearance for Exploration and Production operations.

Regular meetings with officials from the MoPNG, DGH, and state governments are held to discuss pending unresolved issues related to the grant of licences or clearances by respective states.

DGH recently launched the web-based interactive portal URJA PRAGATI (Upstream Response by Joint Action for Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation) to prioritise and flag long-pending issues involving various stakeholders in the upstream hydrocarbon sector, including operators, central ministries, and state governments.

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