By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 21, 2016 : Orissa Integrated Power Ltd (OIPL) has got the first state clearance from the state green panel for diverting 17.02 hectares of revenue forest land to set up a 4,000-MW UMPP in Sundargarh district in Odisha at a cost of Rs 29,000 crore.

As per the proposal, the ultra mega power project (UMPP) requires a total of 1,302.36 hectares, which includes 17.02 hectares of revenue forest land, 1,285 hectares of non-forest land and 1,105.86 hectares of private land.

At a recent meeting of the Bhubaneshwar Regional Empowered Committee (REC), the proposal of the Orissa Integrated Power Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of state-run Power Finance Corporation of India, was discussed.

According to sources, REC has recommended “stage-I” approval to the proposal with some conditions.

OIPL will have to furnish the details of non-forest land as well as private land identified for compensatory afforestation along with Record of Rights (RoR) and non-encroachment certificate from the Tehsildar before the issue of stage-II approval, they said.

Besides, the company has been asked to raise compensatory afforestation to 27.89 hectares in one compact block considering fragmented nature of the leftout forest of 10.87 hectares.
It has also been asked to furnish revised FRA (Forest Rights Act) certificate for 17.02 hectares before issuance of stage-II approval and submit the status of non-forest land duly authenticated by the competent revenue authority.

The project cost is pegged at Rs 29,000 crore and is estimated to generate over 4,500 jobs in the state.

As per the rule, the state government gives stage-I and II forest clearances to the projects based on REC recommendation.