No renewable energy project within 1 km of borders: MHA guidelines

NEW DELHI, AUG 8 (PTI): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a set of guidelines prohibiting any new solar, wind and hybrid renewable energy projects within 1km of Line of Control (LoC), the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and the International Border (IB).
The guidelines issued by the ministry’s Internal Security wing also bar the engagement of engineers, staff, employees and labour from land border countries, especially Pakistan, Bangladesh and China, for project implementation without the permission of the central government.
Under these guidelines, areas within 50km of LoC, LAC, or IB have been designated as “sensitive areas”.
This includes areas within 20km of IB for which a separate no-objection certificate (NOC) will be required from the Ministry of Defence.
Projects that are required to reapply under these guidelines will also be subject to these provisions.
“All solar, wind and hybrid energy projects within 50km will require security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The 1 km area will be strictly restricted, and no project activity will be permitted in this area,” the guidelines for national security clearance for such projects said.
“Security clearance for projects proposed in areas located from 1km to 50km, or for grant of NOC in areas from 1 km to 20 km will be assessed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence on a case-to-case basis,” they said.
The applicant should not transfer land to any foreign company without prior approval of the central government, including security clearance from the MHA, they added.
The move comes amid an increasing number of applications regarding the suitability of setting up various solar, wind and hybrid energy projects in border areas, which may have “national security implications”.
The ministry, which had issued an office memorandum in this regard on June 5, issued the guidelines recently.
The “uniform transparent guidelines” for solar, wind and hybrid projects in border areas were issued “taking into account the national security perspective as also keeping in mind the ease of doing business” in consultation and consensus with all stakeholders, MHA said.
“It is clarified that all projects that have already received security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs prior to the issuance of these guidelines will not be required to reapply under these guidelines. “Similarly, applicants who have already received a NOC from the Ministry of Defence for their project will not be required to reapply under these guidelines,” it said.
The application for all such projects shall be submitted only to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, which will forward the proposal accompanied by the state government’s in-principle approval for allotment of land to the project, specifying its latitude and longitude to MHA for security clearance and to the Ministry of Defence for an NOC.