Agenda No. 9 F. No. 8-47/2008-FC

Sub: Transfer of lease to Investor/Power Producer from Developers in respect of diversion of 215.55 ha of forest land diverted in favour of M/s Enercon (India) Limited – regarding.

1. This relates to transfer of lease from Developers to Investors/Power Producers in respect of above proposal. Earlier, the project proponent, pending the lease transfer proposal to be submitted to this Ministry by the State Government, forwarded a copy of the lease transfer application directly to this Ministry for necessary permission in light of the provisions of the Guidelines dated 20.02.2006 issued under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. As per the facts reported in the proposal, the proposal is pending with the State Government for a period of more than 6 months while as per the provisions of existing timeline as given under Guidelines dated 20.02.2006, the same should have been forwarded to the Ministry within a period of ninety (90) days. 2. A brief background of the case is given as under: i. Proposal for diversion of 215.55 haof forest land was accorded Stage-II approval by this Ministry vide letter of even number dated 21.10.2009 inter-alia stipulating condition that ‘Other standard conditions in vogue as per this Ministry’s Guidelines issued vide letter no. 8-84/2002-FC dated 14.05.2000 for wind power projects shall also be applicable’ ii. The Guidelines dated 14.05.2000 have been issued by the MoEF streamlining the measures for dealing with the Wind Power projects. A copy of the said Guidelines is placed at F/X below. The Guidelines inter-alia stipulates as given under: The lease period initially shall be for a period of 30 years. The forest land will first be leased in favour of the developers and within a period of 4 years of State- II approval, the lease shall be transferred in the name of investors/power produces. In case the developers fail to develop wind farms, the land shall be reverted back to Forest Department without any compensation. iii. In view of the above provision contained in the Guidelines dated 14.05.2000, it was indicated by the project proponent that they have submitted the proposal for lease transfer in favour of M/s EN Renewable Energy Limited to the State Government of vide their letter dated 31.07.2013.The proposal of the project proponent, as reported by the projet proponent, is still pending with the State Government for a period of more than 6 months. iv. Given the circumstances of the pendency of the lease transfer proposal of the project proponent in the State Government, the project proponent had referred to the Guidelines dated 20.02.2006 (F/Y) which are reproduced as under: “For cases of transfer of lease from the developer, i.e. the user Agency to investor/power producer under clause 3 (v) of the guidelines issued vide letter no. 8-84/2002-FC dated 14.05.2004 in respect of utilization of wind energy, the user agency shall submit the details in the format prescribed in this regard (enclosed) to the Nodal Officer, Forest (Conservation) Act. 1980, of the State/Union Territory, with a copy marked to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi. The Nodal Officer shall complete the examination of the particulars furnished by the user agency in the said format within a period of forty five (45) days w.e.f. the date of submission of the application and forward it to the State/Union Territory Government. The State/Union Territory Government shall forward its recommendations within forty five (45) days to the Central Government for consideration. If no decision is communicated by the State/Union Territory on the proposal till the expiry of a period of ninety (90) days w.e.f. the date of submission of the proposal, action as considered appropriate, shall be initiated by the Central Government”. v. Keeping in view the direction contained in the above Guidelines, the project proponent has requested this Ministry to consider their proposal of lease transfer and accord approval of the Central Government. The project proponent has forwarded a copy of the proposal wherein the project proponent (Developer) has proposed to transfer 86.849 ha of forest land in favour of M/s EN Renewable Energy (Investor/Power Producer) to this Ministry. The project proponent has submitted the requisite documents as given under: i. The project proponent and investors/power developers have submitted NOC for lease transfer. ii. The investors/power producers have submitted undertaking to comply with all the conditions stipulated by the Central Government in final approval dated 23.04.2001 (p 439/c) iii. The relevant documents like MoU for lease transfer, application, details duly shown in maps, etc. have been submitted by the project proponent. 3. After examination of the matter in the Ministry, it was decided that it would be appropriate to obtain the comments of the State Government within a stipulated period and in case the comments of the State Government are not received within the specified period, the same may be treated by the Ministry as the State Government has no comments to offer on the proposal. Accordingly, this Ministry vide its letter dated 12.02.2014 (Pg 448/c) has requested the State Government to forward the proposal of the project proponent for transfer of lease in favor of Investors/Power Producers. 4. State Government has submitted their observation vide their letter dated 01st April, 2015 and has submitted as follows:-

(i) PCCF(HoFF), Aranya Bhavan, Bangalore has submitted the proposal vide reference dated 24.02.2015 for transfer of forest land leased to M/s Enercon (India) Ltd., (Presently Wind World (India) Ltd. to the investors/power producers falling in Ramdurga and Taluk in , Karnataka State. (ii) The PCCF(HoFF) has sought clarification regarding transfer of lease from Enercon (India) Ltd. to M/s CLP Wind Farms (India) Private Limited from Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited. The Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited has clarified vide letter dated 11.03.2015 and have stated that the transfer of forest land lease will be considered in favour of M/s CLP Wind Farms (India) Private Limited. (iii) In light of the above and as per report of the PCCF (HoFF) the user agency M/s Enercon (India) Limited (Presently Wind World (India) Limited) may be permitted to transfer of 118.145 ha and 48.775 ha of forest land in the name of M/s CLP Wind Farms (India) Private Limited and M/s Green Infra Wind Power Generation Limited, respectively by approving the as-built drawing along with area statement which is submitted by the Deputy Conservation of Forests, Division , Belagavi District, Karnataka. (iv) The User Agency has utilized 166.920 ha out of 215.55 ha of sanctioned extent of forest land and by utilising 57.30 ha of forest land as deviation/violation due to change in width of road, length of electrical line, corridor etc. (v) While sanctioning the project, there were no coordinates insisted by Forest Dept. Hence, after execution and preparation of as-built drawing the deviation/violations are noticed by the Forest Department in different components of the Project. As explained by the User Agency these are due to practical difficulties faced by them while executing in the project area and not intentional or with any vested interest. Further, the user agency has utilised less than the total sanctioned area of 215.55 ha. (vi) The joint survey revealed, that the UA has utilised the forest land, well within the sanctioned extent of area and violations due to change in the coordinates. In the interest of encouraging the green energy production in the State, the project may be regularised as permissible under law, by approving the as-built drawing and transfer of forest land be effected in favour of investors/power producers. (vii) In this regard the application for transfer of lease in accordance with para 3(v) of the Guidelines dated 14.05.2004 issued under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 in respect of wind power projects along with necessary enclosures like location map, depicting lease area for transfer, letter of authorisation, undertaking by investors/power producers, no objections from both the parties as submitted by the User Agency and reports of PCCF (HoFF) and the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Ghataprabha Division, Gokak are enclosed for necessary action.

5. The recommendations of the PCCF as enclosed with the letter of State Government are as follows:-

(i) DCF Gokak has reported that in order to ascertain actual utilizaiton of leased area out of 215.55 ha field survey was taken up by the field staff in presence of representatives of User Agency and as-built drawings were prepared with the help of GIS tools, duly superimposing the as-built area on the approved map of the project. (ii) The details of area utilized and the extent of violations carried out by the User Agency in Ghataprabha Division of and Ranges for the purpose of WEC, Corridor, Road & Electrical lines, as per the as-built drawings submitted by the DCF Gokak are as follows:-

(1) Total approved area 215.551 ha

(2) Total area utilized by the User Agency as per the 166.920 ha as-built drawing

(3) Area utilised by the UA as per the Approval 109.619 ha

(4) Additional area utilized by user agency in 57.300 ha Violation of FC Act i.e. (2)-(3)

(5) Un-utilized area out of approved area i.e. (1) – (3) 105.931 ha

(iii) Based on the report submitted by DCF, Gokak it has been found that the User Agency has utilized an additional area of 57.30 ha in violation of FC Act. The component wise violations are as follows:-

(a) Road: 20.586 ha The violations with respect to Roads include utilization of width beyond approved width of 9 mts., and their formation in locations for which there was not approval.

(b) Electrical Line: 11.571 ha (c) External Transmission Line: 16.090 ha The violation w.r.t. transmission lines include laying of transmission lines in excess of the approved extent, by extending the same beyond the length approved.

(d) Corridor: 8.778 ha The violations w.r.t. Corridor include the shifting of three WECs i.e. from the approved SY No. 54 of Kolachi village to SY No. 93/A of Gonnagar village and shifting of one WEC in village.

(e) Others (Area cleared for Helipad): 0.275 ha

(iv) Total area utilized in violation of FC Act: 57.30 ha. The component wise details of violations as submitted by Deputy Conservator of Forests, Gokak are enclosed as Annexure-A - ps. 533-536& 543-544/c).

A. Transfer of lease area to M/s Green Infra Wind Power Generation Limited:

The user agency has sought a transfer of already leased forest land of 51.65 ha in favour of M/s Green Infra Wind Power Generation Limited through an Application dated 25.10.2014 & 25.11.2014. The application was examined by the DCF Gokak who has submitted a report regarding the same.

As per the as-built drawing submitted by DCF Gokak and the map regarding transfer of lease area submitted by the User Agency, it has been found that the area sought for transfer is 48.775 ha and not 51.65 ha. However out of 48.775 ha utilized by the user agency (and now being sought for transfer) only 33.756 ha is utilized as per Approval and hence an area of 15.019 ha has been utilized by the user agency in violation of FC Act. This area of 15.019 ha is part of the total violation carried out by the User Agency i.e. to an extent of 57.300 ha. (Annexure-B – p. 550/c).

It is also to note that three WECs have been installed in Sy. No. 93/A of Gonnagar village instead of Sy.No. 54 of Kolachi village (as per approved plan under FCA). These 3 WECs established in Sy. No. 93/A of Gonnagar village of Ramdurg taluk are part of the deemed forest as per the report of DCF Gokak.

B. Transfer of Lease Area to M/s CLP Wind Farms (India) Private Limited

The user agency has sought a transfer of already leased forest land of 89.42 ha in favour of M/s CLP Wind Farms (India) Private Limited through an Application dated 25.10.2014 & 25.11.2014.The application was examined by the DCF, Gokak who has submitted a report regarding the same.

As per the as-built drawing submitted by DCF Gokak and the map regarding transfer of lease area submitted by the User Agency, it has been found that the area sought for transfer is 118.145 ha and not 89.145 ha. However out of 118.145 ha utilized by the user agency (and now being sought for transfer) only 75.863 ha is utilized as per approval and hence an area of 42.282 ha has been utilized by the user agency in violation of FC Act. This 42.282 ha is part of the total violation carried out by the User Agency to an extent of 57.300 ha (Annexure-C – p. 551/c).

PCCF, Karnataka has further recommended as follows:-

“It is clear that as per the as-built drawing, the User Agency seeks to transfer the entire land i.e. 166.92 ha utilized by it in this project.

The User Agency has to make balance payment towards SMC works and Medicinal plantation charges in respect of their eleven (11) Wind Power Projects approved in Gokak, Belagavi, Chitradurga, Tumkuru & 0Gadag Divisions. In this regard, the User Agency has given an undertaking that the balance payment will be made before approval is granted for transfer of lease by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

In light of the facts mentioned above, the matter may be moved to MoEF, Govt. of India for taking appropriate decision regarding the transfer of lease area from the User Agency i.e. M/s Wind World (India) Ltd. formerly M/s Enercon (India) Ltd. to an extent of (a) 48.775 ha of forest land to M/s Green Infra Wind Power Generation Limited and (b) 118.145 ha of forest land to M/s CLP Wind Farms (India) Private Limited out of the approved area of 215.55 ha. However MoEF may be requested to look into the following issues while considering the transfer application:-

1) Utilization of additional land by the User Agency i.e. M/s Wind World (India) Ltd. formerly M/s Enercon (India) Ltd. to the extent of 57.30 ha, in violation of the FC Act. 2) Identification, transfer and mutation of equivalent non forest land to the extent of 57.300 ha (Violated area) and payment of CA/PCA charges. 3) Payment of NPV towards 57.30 ha of additional forest land utilized. 4) Payment towards balance amount pertaining to SMC works & raising of Medicinal plantation charges in respect of eleven (11) wind power projects.”

In view of above, the factual position is as follows:-

(i) Transfer of lease to M/s Green Infra Wind Power Generation Limited:-

Area sought for transfer = 48.775 ha instead of 51.65 ha Area utilized as per F(C) approval = 33.756 ha Area utilized in violation of F(C) Act = 15.019 ha

(ii) Transfer of lease to M/s CLP Wind Farms (India) Private Limited:-

Area sought for transfer = 118.145 ha instead of 89.145 ha Area utilized as per F(C) = 75.863 ha Area utilized in violation of F(C) Act = 42.282 ha

In both of transfers of lease, requisite proforma duly recommended by the State Government, maps of the area to be transferred, site verification by the concerned DCF has been submitted.

In the meantime, the user agency has submitted vide their letter dated 14.07.2015 (ps. 552-555/c) as follows:-

1) The project was sanctioned in the year 2009. 2) While applying the project, as per the prevailing practice the GPS Coordinates were not given for WECs and other Components of the projects. 3) The project was sanctioned based on markings on the Topo-Maps along with component wise area Statement. 4) In this project, the road width sanctioned is 9 Mtrs but executed is 15 Mtrs. The slight changes in Alignment of the road along with increase in width has taken as deviation/violation. 5) In this project the External & Internal Electrical lines were sanctioned for 15 Mtrs width in the area statement but not marked on the maps. The executed width of both the electrical lines are not exceeded 8 Mtrs width. Since the electrical lines were not marked on the sanctioned map. Though sanctioned in the area statement is taken as violation/deviation. 6) The majority of the WECs Coordinates are tallying with the sanctioned ones, this can be very well seen in the As-built Map Superimposed on the sanctioned map. 7) The As-Built map is prepared by the user agency on Total Station Survey, but the Forest Department, prepared and verified the maps on GPS readings. There are 5 to 10 Mtrs variations. This is added up in the Variation/Deviation.

Since the user agency has utilised only 166.92 hectares of forest land in this Malaprabha Project, and these deviations/violations are of in linear nature and they have paid NPV, CA charges for 215.55 ha. Considering all these above genuine points and facts, the user agency has requested to approve the As-built drawing and effect the lease transfer.

From the recommendations of the State Government in its letter dated 21st April, 2015 and above clarification submitted by the user agency dated 14.07.2015, these variations seems to be due to slight change in alignment or due to increase in RoW from 8 mtrs. for road to 15 m. The maps showing approved drawing and de-built drawing submitted by the user agency does not show large variation.

In view of decision taken during last FAC meeting held on 29th July, 2015, the name of the firm has been changed vide letter No. 8-47/2008-FC dated 17th September, 2015 (p. 558/c).

Further, as decided in the FAC meeting, the issue of transfer of lease may be placed before the FAC to be held on 30th September, 2015. The Nodal Officer (FCA) of the State Government may also be requested to make it convenient to attend the meeting.

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