MoEFCC Grants Environmental Clearance to BIDA Greenfield Industrial City (2 June 2026)

What was decided

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, has officially granted environmental clearance to the 'Greenfield Industrial City (BIDA Master Plan-2045)' project of the Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority (BIDA), Jhansi. The project was classified under the Schedule of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.

The announcement was made from Lucknow/Jhansi, with officials describing it as a milestone for the region's industrial push. BIDA CEO Sanjay Kumar Khatri said the environmental clearance marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Bundelkhand's development.

How the clearance was arrived at

BIDA completed the entire environmental clearance process in a time-bound and transparent manner, in line with the standards prescribed for projects of this scale.

• The environmental appraisal process included an Expert Appraisal Committee review in June 2025, a public hearing in Jhansi on 22 December 2025 and further committee reviews in March and April 2026.
• Environmental clearance was reported in June 2026.

This appraisal sat within a longer planning process: a consortium led by Singapore-based Surbana Jurong and real-estate consultancy CBRE was selected to prepare the master plan, and the draft Master Plan 2045 was released for public objections and suggestions on 11 April 2025, followed by draft Building Regulations 2045 on 26 April 2025. By October 2025, the master plan had received BIDA board approval, while sector and zonal planning continued.

Operative area and boundaries

This mega project will be developed over an area of 253.33 square kilometres (62,599.20 acres), covering 33 rural areas of Jhansi tehsil. The notified villages fall within the Babina and Baragaon development blocks of Jhansi Sadar tehsil.

This planning area is not the same as the land actually being bought for development. The total 253.33 sq km planning area is distinct from the 56,662 acres approved for phased land acquisition and development. Land acquisition itself is split into two phases — 35,298 acres targeted in phase one and the remaining 21,364 acres slated for phase two — across the 33 villages.

Land-use split under Master Plan 2045

Under the BIDA Master Plan 2045, the 253 sq km of land has been designated for specific uses: industrial (35.8 per cent), residential (15.2 per cent), mixed-use (5.1 per cent), commercial (1.5 per cent) and green space (10.6 per cent), among other categories. Overall, the planned city combines industrial, residential, commercial, institutional, logistics and green uses.

Environmental conditions attached

The clearance sets out specific water and effluent management commitments for the project:

• The city's drinking water requirement of 217.22 MLD will be met from Rajghat Dam, while treated water will be used for other purposes.
• BIDA will establish a 163.26 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant and a 150.88 MLD Common Effluent Treatment Plant in phases.
• Used water will be treated and reused, and no wastewater of any kind will be discharged into the Betwa, Pahuj or Angauri rivers.

The plan also addresses the existing rural population inside the notified area: local rural habitation areas will be integrated with the BIDA city and provided with facilities.

Land acquisition status

BIDA has so far acquired a total of 25,706 acres of land, with compensation provided to landowners at transparent rates in accordance with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act, 2013. An earlier progress update in March 2026 put acquisition at a lower figure: the acquisition of 24,201 acres of land amounted to more than 68 per cent of the total 35,298 acres targeted in the first phase. To ensure transparency, BIDA has introduced a digital software system covering every stage of land acquisition — from farmer consent to payment.

Practical effect of the clearance

Environmental clearance is a statutory precondition for a project of this category and scale; without it, construction cannot lawfully proceed. With the clearance in place, BIDA can move from planning and land acquisition into the infrastructure-execution stage of Master Plan 2045. BIDA had already floated a Request for Proposal in April 2025 to select a consultant for feasibility studies and detailed project reports for infrastructure in the plan's first-phase 'Activation Area', with bids due 2 June 2025. That assignment spans 12 infrastructure segments including a 38-kilometre greenfield expressway, power transmission, water supply, sewage treatment and ICT systems.

Regional connectivity plans that depend on the project's progress include: a request to NHAI to extend the Agra–Gwalior Greenfield Expressway to BIDA and Jhansi, and development of a Delhi–Nagpur Industrial Corridor node within the BIDA region.

Institutional background

BIDA was constituted under the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Area Development Act, 1976 to plan, develop and regulate an integrated industrial and urban township in the Bundelkhand region. The Governor of Uttar Pradesh formally notified the BIDA area on 14 September 2023. The authority held its first board meeting on 4 January 2024 and its second on 28 June 2024.