Environmental Clearance Granted for Krishnapatnam Industrial Area by MoEF&CC (10 May 2022)

What was decided

MoEF&CC's Impact Assessment Division (IA-II) granted Environmental Clearance for the Krishnapatnam Industrial Area project. The clearance identifies the project as the Krishnapatnam north industrial node with EC Identification No. EC22A031AP132901 vide file no. 21-57/2019-IA-II, dated 10th May 2022, covering an extent of 4490.35 hectares. That hectare figure converts almost exactly to the 11,098-acre total area that NICDC lists for the Krishnapatnam node under its three-phase development plan, confirming the EC covers the full planned node rather than a single phase.

How the clearance was arrived at

The clearance followed the standard environmental appraisal sequence. The Expert Appraisal Committee, at its meeting held during 23rd and 24th June 2021, recommended the project for grant of Environment and CRZ clearance. However, a clarification was sought by the CRZ Division of the Ministry from the APCZMA regarding the construction of internal roads in the CRZ area, which held up the final order. A prior reference point in the file is IA/AP/NCP/110654/2019 dated 18 May 2021, corresponding to the Terms of Reference stage that preceded the EAC's appraisal. The final EC was issued roughly eleven months after the EAC's recommendation, on 10 May 2022.

Operative conditions attached to the clearance

• Grading within the project site is to be planned so there are negligible impacts on the existing natural drainage pattern, with an adequate drainage system providing separate collection streams to segregate storm run-off, material storage area wastewater and vehicle-wash water.
• Green belt around habitations and water bodies must be at least 50 metres wide.
• No construction work other than that permitted under the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification may be carried out in the CRZ area.
• Year-wise funds earmarked for environmental protection measures must be kept in a separate account, not diverted for other purposes, with progress reported to the Ministry/Regional Office alongside the Six-Monthly Compliance Report.
• A self-environmental audit is to be conducted annually, and a third-party audit every three years.
• The project proponent must submit six-monthly reports on compliance status on the MoEF&CC environment clearance portal.
• Any appeal against the EC lies with the National Green Tribunal, if preferred, within 30 days as prescribed under Section 16.

Practical effect: unlocking Phase-1 activation

The EC functioned as a gating condition for the trunk infrastructure programme. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, approved project proposals for construction of various trunk infrastructure components in Phase 1 of Krishnapatnam Industrial Area, at an estimated project cost of ₹2,139.44 crore. The EPC tender for the Phase-1 activation area of 2,139 acres was subsequently finalised, and a Project Management Consultant was appointed.

Separately, NICDC's project monitoring records show the SPV, NICDIT Krishnapatnam Industrial City Development Limited, was incorporated on 7th August 2018, and the Government of India accorded approval of the project on 30th December 2020 for a Phase-1 area of 2,500 acres. The State Government has since transferred 2,139.15 acres of land to the SPV, matched by central equity. By 2025, the EPC contractor had been appointed in February 2024, and internal trunk infrastructure works were reported in progress.

Later institutional changes

The SPV that received the 2022 clearance has since had its mandate widened. The SPV — Andhra Pradesh Industrial Corridors Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (earlier NKICDL) — was incorporated on 7 August 2018 with equal equity of APIIC (Government of Andhra Pradesh) and NICDIT (Government of India); its mandate, earlier limited to Krishnapatnam, was expanded to Orvakal and Kopparthy through an SSA/SHA amendment dated 30 October 2024. The existing SPV was subsequently renamed "AP Industrial Corridor Infrastructure Development Corporation." As of the most recent NICDC project monitoring update, Krishnapatnam is listed among the programme's projects nearing completion, alongside Tumakuru, the Nangal Chaudhary logistics hub and the Dadri multi-modal hub.