Bhubaneswar: The Government of Odisha today reaffirmed its commitment to the expeditious processing of forest diversion proposals for crucial infrastructure projects during the third monthly coordination meeting held here in Lok Seva Bhawan.
The meeting, chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department, Shri Satyabrata Sahu, focused on resolving forest-related issues and fast-tracking clearances for projects by major user agencies including NHAI, Indian Railways, OPTCL, GSI, Reliance Jio Infocom Limited, BSNL, SAIL, and NH.
The meeting was attended by senior officials including Additional PCCF (Nodal) Dr. K. Murugesan, Officer on Special Duty and Special Secretary, FE&CC Department Shri Lingaraj Otta, CCF (Nodal) A.K. Kar, as well as Chief Engineers from Railways and NH Division, officials from OPTCL, DDG, GSI, RO, NHAI, and all Regional Chief Conservators of Forests and Divisional Forest Officers.
The ongoing effort underscores the government’s commitment to providing a supportive environment for the timely execution of major central and state infrastructure initiatives.
The ACS FE& CC reviewed the progress against the timelines established in the last meeting on October 13, 2025. Key projects under review, many of which are listed on the PMG/PRAGATI portals, included the Capital Region Ring Road Project (CRRR-I and CRRR-II), Goru–Mahisani New Railway Line, Reliance Jio’s 4G Mobile Service Project, GSI’s Exploration Proposal, SAIL’s Kalta Iron Ore Mines, OPTCL’s Transmission Line Projects, and Kalyani Steel Ltd.’s Integrated Steel Plant Proposal.
The ACS noted substantial progress in projects involving BSNL and Reliance Jio for OFC cable laying and tower erection, as well as in OPTCL transmission lines and GSI exploration projects. Significant advancements were also observed in the NHAI’s CRRR-I and CRRR-II projects over the past month. However, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) was directed to quickly resolve pending wildlife-related issues.
In a directive aimed at accelerating project implementation, the ACS instructed all Regional Chief Conservators of Forests (RCCFs) and Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) to treat these critical infrastructure projects with top priority, fast-tracking the processing of proposals and proactively clearing all pending issues at their level. Nodal Officers were tasked with rigorous monitoring and facilitation to ensure compliance and avoid delays. User agencies were simultaneously advised to submit all necessary documents, maps, and enclosures to the concerned DFOs without delay.
Further stressing the importance of efficiency, the ACS Shri Sahu emphasized strict adherence to set timelines for processing forest diversion proposals and urged all concerned departments and agencies to maintain close coordination. Recognizing the state’s industrial focus, the ACS also directed the Forest Department to proactively assist various industries, which have signed MoUs with the Industries Department, in submitting their Forest Diversion Proposals, including help with Compensatory Afforestation (CA) land identification, survey, demarcation, and public hearings.