Forest Clearance Certificate - Get a forest clearance readiness check in 5 minutes.

An Overview of Forest Clearance Certificate in India

A Forest Clearance Certificate is a mandatory approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, in India. The act restricts the diversion of forest land or its use for non-forest purposes.

Under this act, the MoEF forest clearance is the approval required to divert forest land for non-forest purposes. The forest land diversion approval is also required for businesses to utilize forests for non-forest purposes.

Securing forest clearance approvals ensures minimal damage in large-scale projects following the conservation laws. Obtaining a forest clearance certificate is essential for environmental conservation. This supports development while ensuring environmental safeguards. Also, it serves as a checkpoint to restrict unauthorized non-forestry use.

So, if you are looking for a Forest Clearance consultant, your search ends here. India's top consultancy, Enterclimate, helps businesses with a forest clearance certificate.

3 Types of Forest Clearance Certificate

Under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, there are three types of Forest Clearance Certificate. Look at the types given below to understand the applicable category.

• Reserved Forest: This type of forest clearance certificate aims to safeguard forests and wildlife. Also, it contributes to a major portion of forest land.
• Protected Forest: This type of forest clearance certificate protects the forest from misuse and depletion of resources.
• Unclassified Forest: This forest clearance certificate is owned by the local communities and individuals, without any restrictions on cattle grazing and the forest resources for livelihood.

List of the Environmental Laws for Forest Clearance Approval

An applicant must know the environmental laws for the forest clearance approval. Here is a list of the five important environmental laws to obtain forest clearance.

• Indian Forest Act, 1927
• Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
• National Forest Policy, 1988
• National Forest Action Programme (NFAP), 1999
• Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, or Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006

What are the Pre-Requirements for Project Development for Forest Clearance Approval?

A project developer gets a forest clearance approval by fulfilling certain pre-requirements. If you want to know which are those, look at the pointers given below:

• Obtain NOC Consent: Secure a No Objection Certificate (NOC) consent approved by the Gram Sabha with a complete process defined under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
• Submit Detailed Report: Fill Form I in the application form. You need to provide project details, land segregation as per its use/purpose, and administrative/technical approvals.
• Explore Land Alternatives: Provide documented evidence stating non-forest alternatives with reasons for their rejection.
• Digitally Authorized Maps: Submit the digital maps with geo-referencing boundaries to prevent harm to the biodiversity of the forests.
• Conduct Compensatory Afforestation (CA): Developers must provide a non-forest land twice the size of the diverted forest land. If successful, a developer will obtain a Compensatory Afforestation approval.
• Pay Financial Charges: Payment for diverted forest must be equivalent to its Net Present Value (NPV).

What are the Documents Required to Apply for Forest Clearance License Online in India?

An applicant must have a list of all the documents required to apply for forest clearance license online. It is essential to have updated documents beforehand to upload on the PARIVESH portal and successfully obtain the forest clearance certificate. So, without further ado, let's look at the list of documents given below:

Application Form Documents

• Form A for forest land diversion approval
• Form B for details on the project's site
• Form C for any forest clearance approval
• Form D for undertaking affidavit

Project and Technical Documents

• Detailed Project Report
• Financial Analysis
• Document for non-forest alternatives
• Rehabilitation Plan

Maps and Spatial Data Documents

• Geo-reference maps
• Toposheet
• Current satellite imagery
• Site and Layout Plan

Land and Legal Compliance Documents

• Land ownership document/tenure proof
• Survey number of the forest land
• Forest Rights Act compliance

Environmental and Wildlife Clearance

• Tree Enumeration Report
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
• Wildlife Clearance

Financial Undertakings (Stage II Compliance)

• Net Present Value details
• Compensatory Afforestation (CA) Scheme

Businesses working on projects in nearby forest areas require a Forest Department NOC before applying for final forest clearance registration.

What is the Process of Forest Clearance Registration in India?

An applicant must follow the step-by-step procedure to complete the forest clearance registration in India. Look below to understand each step for authorization of the forest clearance certificate.

Step 1: Forest Clearance Registration
Visit the PARIVESH website. Create a User ID with a password to log in.

Step 2: Fill out the application for Forest Clearance Approval
Fill out the forest clearance based on your proposal. You must fill out Form A for new forest land diversion approval and Form B for renewal.

Step 3: Upload Documents
You must ensure updated and original documents to upload on the site and proceed with the online forest clearance application.

Step 4: Proposal Scrutiny
Upon submission of the application, the State Forest Nodal Officer cross-checks the proposal within 10 days to find gaps and ensure it is complete.

Stage 5: Stage- I Forest Clearance Approval (In Principle)
The Stage- I is a crucial step that consists of field verification, application review, and approval.

1. Site Inspection: The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and District Collector visit for site inspection to confirm the boundary and compliance with the Forest Rights Act (FRA).

2. Timeline for Application Review:
The timeline for review is based on your forest land size; the central and state authorities review the application with field verification (if required).
See the timeline given below for the application review process:

• Up to 40 Hectares of land is processed in 70 days.
• 40-100 Hectares of land is processed in 90 days to 150 days.
• Above 100 Hectares of land is processed in 120 days.

3. In-Principle (Stage – I) Approval:
The central ministry evaluates the comprehensive proposal report to grant approval for In-Principle, which is Stage – I.

Stage 6: Stage – II Approval (Final Clearance)
The State Nodal Officers are responsible for verifying the FRA compliance. When an applicant pays the mandatory Net Present Value and Compensatory Afforestation funds. You must provide twice the size of non-forest land against the forest land being utilized.

The online forest clearance application procedure involves registration, documentation, proposal auditing, and the following 2-Step stages.

What are the Common Mistakes in Forest Clearance Registration?

Most applicants seeking forest clearance registration commit several minor and major mistakes. This delays the forest clearance approval and processing for the certificate. So, if you cannot afford delays in clearance registration, it's better to look for those common mistakes given below:

• The missing documents include area size in hectares and geo-referencing boundaries.
• Inconsistent KML/shapefiles of the project must match the documents.
• No verification of the legal status of the land.
• Failure to consider the Gram Sabha consent.
• No justification for not using the non-forest land.
• Using the generic Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)/Environmental Management Plan (EMP) increases queries, extending delays in the procedure of forest clearance approval.
• Delays in the compensatory afforestation approval halt the process of the 2-stage Forest Clearance registration.
• Incomplete payment or delay in payment of prescribed government fees.

Key Challenges in Forest Clearance Certificate Approval

There are several challenges in the approval of the forest clearance certificate during its registration on the PARIVESH portal. Look at the pointers given below:

• Conflicts of the local tribal community over their land rights revoke the Gram Sabha consent.
• Under the revised Forest Conservation Rules, the union government no longer requires collaboration with the forests' local community for project authorization.
• As per the Compensatory Afforestation (CA), an applicant must provide double the non-forest land size against the diverted forest land, which is difficult.
• Searching for the non-forest land is extremely difficult for a few reasons:
  • The replaced forest land size must be twice the land used for societal or infrastructural purposes.
  • Land ownership and associated legal disputes.
  • Fresh and unused land is unavailable or difficult to search.
• Despite the state government providing forest land from the "Land Banks", the applicant is obligated to buy or arrange non-forest land and pay NPV compensation.
• Incomplete or inaccurate documents cause delays in application approval.
• The application for forest clearance approval goes from DFO to the State Nodal officer to the regional MoEF office, which increases the processing duration.
• Discrepancies between original documents and environmental data records can delay approval.

What is the Timeline for Forest Clearance Approval in India?

Here is the total timeline required for 2-Stage Forest clearance approval in India. Look below to understand the simple time duration based on state and central reviews, with compliance conditions:

In-Principle: Stage 1 Clearance Timeline

• The state review takes 30 days to 60 days. The DFO and District collector conduct site inspections for >40 to 100+ hectares of land. Upon receiving the review, it is forwarded to the Regional Office of the MoEF authority.
• The central review takes 90 days to 150 days based on the project's type and size. The review is conducted by either the Regional Empowered Committee (REC) or the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC).
• The MoEF forest clearance is granted for the final approval of Stage I.

Final Approval: Stage 2 Clearance Timeline

Timeline varies based on Stage 1 conditions that involve payment of government charges, including Net Present Value (NPV) and Compensatory Afforestation (CA). Upon verification of detailed reports by the state government, it is submitted to the MoEF for authorization of the final division order. Overall, stage 2 clearance takes 60 to 90 days.

Additionally, you must not overlook the factors affecting the overall timeline for the 2-Stage Forest Clearance Certificate. See below:

• Small-scale infrastructural projects are relieved from in-depth scrutiny compared to large-scale projects.
• The project's location and the type of land cause an extension of the review duration.
• To search and transfer the non-forest land against the usable forest land is complicated.
• Gram Sabha consent for the forest clearance license is required, but the unorganized local community and its disputes, cause more delay.
• Incomplete project reports, environmental data, and misguided use of forest-land result in certificate rejection, causing prolonged time for approvals.

Why Trust Enterclimate for Forest Clearance Compliance Services?

Enterclimate offers forest clearance compliance services to its clients across 25+ states with 99.99% retention rate. The in-house experts with 10+ years of professional experience provide guidance on certification, selecting the category, compliance, and in-depth assistance on the 2-Stage forest clearance approval.

Given below are the reasons why we are the first choice for forest clearance compliance services in India-

• Obtained 500+ Forest Clearance Certificates
• 10+ Years of Market Leadership
• 72-Hour Documentation Support
• Sector-based Regulatory Expertise
• 3X Faster Regulatory Communication
• Accurate Environmental Assessments
• 100+ Multi-state Project Consultation
• Successfully Resolved 100+ Queries Daily