Arrange the following key stages related to project clearance and compliance in India in chronological order (earliest first):

Question

Arrange the following key stages related to project clearance and compliance in India in chronological order (earliest first):

I. Grant of Environmental Clearance (EC)

II. Grant of Consent to Establish (CTE)

III. Construction and commissioning

IV. Grant of Consent to Operate (CTO)

Choose the correct sequence:

1. A. II-I-III-IV
2. B. I-II-III-IV (Correct answer)
3. C. II-III-I-IV
4. D. I-III-II-IV

Correct Answer

Option B — I-II-III-IV

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer per the official JKSSB final key is I-II-III-IV.

Key Points

• The regulatory sequence for an industrial project in India runs:
  • I. Grant of Environmental Clearance (EC) — the project-level approval under the EIA Notification, 2006.
  • II. Grant of Consent to Establish (CTE) — permission from the State Pollution Control Board to build.
  • III. Construction and commissioning.
  • IV. Grant of Consent to Operate (CTO) — permission to run, issued once the pollution control systems are in place and verified.
• The two fixed relationships are that CTO must come last, since it certifies installed controls, and that construction sits between the two consents.

Additional Information

• This item was among the ten reviewed after objections, and its key was revised from A (II-I-III-IV) to B (I-II-III-IV) — the change being whether environmental clearance or consent to establish comes first. The revision is sound: EC precedes CTE, because the State Board's consent is granted against a project that already holds clearance.
• The distinction between the two approvals is the heart of the sequence: EC is one-time and project-level, granted centrally or by SEIAA under the EPA 1986; consent is operational and renewable, granted by the SPCB under the Water and Air Acts.
• CTO is issued for a fixed term and must be renewed, which gives the Board a recurring point of leverage that a one-time clearance cannot provide.
• Obligations continue after commissioning through half-yearly compliance reports on the EMP and clearance conditions.