FICCI has requested Election Commission of India to issue clarification to Ministry of Environment & Forests on the continuation of the grant of environment and forest clearances for projects while the model code of conduct is in place.

Writing to V S Sampath, chief election commissioner, A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI said, "Ever since the model code of conduct (MCC) has been implemented from 5th March 2014, we are given to understand that Ministry of Environment & Forest has kept these permissions for the projects in abeyance pending opinion about the on-going clearance process under different statutes. This is further delaying the implementation of these projects and affecting the viability as it has taken many months for these projects to reach at this stage of clearance."
 
Environment and forest clearances for the projects are given by Ministry of Environment and Forest after the recommendations of expert appraisal committee or forest advisory committee respectively under different statutes (Forest Conservation Act and EIA Notification 2006) of Government of India.

These Committees include sectoral experts who make appropriate recommendations to the Ministry based on which Ministry of Environment and Forest either grants or rejects environment/forest clearance.

In number of projects, FICCI has been informed that the expert appraisal committee (EAC)/forest advisory committee (FAC) have already given their recommendations for granting the environment/forest clearance, and Ministry's approval is awaited. However, since the Model Code of Conduct has been in place since Mar. 5, 2014 projects have not been granted Environment/Forest clearances despite EAC and FACs giving a go ahead.
 
FICCI said that all these clearances are ongoing regulatory activities of Ministry of Environment and Forests and should be allowed to be granted.