Ahmedabad: Real estate project clearances in Gujarat have slowed after the State-level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) became non-functional when its tenure ended in June, industry representatives and govt sources said. A standing committee has been formed with a govt notification, but industry wants a regular committee.Environmental appraisals for a range of real estate and industrial proposals have been delayed, the sources added.Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), Gujarat, has raised the issue with the state govt.Tejas Joshi, president of CREDAI, Gujarat, said, “The SEAC is a key link in the state’s environmental approval chain for projects that fall under Category 8(a).”Joshi said these projects include buildings and construction projects with a built-up area of more than 20,000 square metres and area development projects spread over 50 hectares.“Without the committee’s scrutiny, such proposals cannot proceed to the next stages of clearance, pushing project timelines further out,” Joshi said. “There is a notification about forming a standing committee, but a regular committee is needed because many project approvals are stuck.”Industry sources said a significant number of real estate applications are pending because there is no committee to review them.Ashesh Shah, environment committee head of CREDAI, Gujarat, said, “A recent notification from the Centre said that there should be a standing committee to avoid piling up of cases before the central govt.”Shah added, “New cases are not being admitted to the portal.”According to industry representatives, developers are being forced to route some permissions through the central govt in the absence of a functioning state mechanism. The switch can increase approval timelines, the representatives said.The tenure of the previous SEAC, comprising seven members, ended on June 12. A CREDAI, Gujarat, office-bearer said, “For projects involving more than 20,000 square metres of built-up area, construction cannot begin without the appraisal.”The office-bearer added, “Townships and large estates are also getting impacted. We plan to take this up with the state govt soon.”Gujarat govt sources said Union ministry of environment and forests plays a major role in SEAC formation.“There have been amendments related to SEAC,” a govt source said. “Earlier, when states anticipated the end of a committee’s tenure, there would be a rush of applications moving to the central govt.”The source added, “Now, the amendment provides for states to maintain a standby SEAC and EIA Authority that can function when the regular committee’s tenure ends.”Under guidelines, the screening, scoping, and appraisal process for eligible real estate projects can take up to 90 days, sources said.However, industry representatives said Gujarat’s SEAC had typically cleared most applications faster, often within 45 days, and the current gap is therefore being felt more sharply.Chemical industry representatives said smaller and lower-impact projects that usually receive state-level appraisal are also stalled.State govt sources said the formation of the new SEAC is in its final stage and an announcement is expected soon.
