Scheme of Assistance for Common Environment Infrastructure: Scheme for Development of Green Estate

What is the Scheme for Development of Green Estate?

The Scheme for Development of Green Estate is Scheme 4 inside Gujarat's Scheme of Assistance for Common Environment Infrastructure, notified by the Industries and Mines Department through Government Resolution No. GID/102020/326692/G dated 1 September 2020 under the Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020. It replaced the earlier Common Environment Infrastructure scheme declared by Resolution No. GID-102014-922945-G dated 19 January 2015.

The problem it addresses is specific to an industrialised state. Gujarat has clusters of small polluting units, dyeing, electroplating, chemical processing, foundry work, that grew up inside or beside residential areas long before current environmental norms. Individually none of them can afford to move. Collectively, relocating them into a purpose-built estate with a shared effluent system is the only permanent fix. The Green Estate component funds exactly that move.

According to the resolution, the component pays on two heads:

• 75% assistance, maximum Rs 80 lakh, for preparation of a site master plan for relocating or retrofitting existing polluting industrial units into a green industrial estate, as directed by GPCB or the Ministry of Environment and Forests, prepared by recognised science and engineering colleges of the State, IITs, NITs, scientific and R&D institutions, GEMI or GCPC.
• 25% of capital cost, maximum Rs 25 crore, for the setup, relocation or retrofitting of the existing polluting units into the green industrial estate.

The wider Common Environment Infrastructure resolution also carries three other components: financial assistance for common environmental infrastructure facilities, a common boiler project by an SPV of at least ten MSMEs (35% or maximum Rs 2 crore for solid fuel, 50% or maximum Rs 2 crore for cleaner fuels such as CNG, PNG or bio fuel), and a scheme for strengthening regulation and environmental compliance with need-based support up to Rs 50 lakh.

Who is eligible, and who is excluded?

Eligible applicants are institutions, as the resolution defines the term: any industries association; any enterprise except for captive use; any firm registered under the Societies Act, Trust Act or Companies Act; or GIDC, a board, corporation, SPV, PSU, municipal corporation, nagarpalika or urban development authority. Beyond the applicant test, the Green Estate component requires that:

• Any institution or group of industries having polluting industrial units requires relocation or retrofitting on the recommendation of GPCB.
• A professional agency appointed by the Industries Commissioner on GPCB's recommendation has studied the existing pollution load, the quality of effluent and the improvement expected from relocating the group.
• The study report has gone to the State Level supported Committee with the Industries Commissioner's recommendation and observation, and the committee has taken a decision approving the project.

Individuals cannot apply. This is not a citizen benefit and there is no personal payout. A single factory owner cannot obtain a Green Estate grant to move one shed; the scheme funds a collective relocation identified by GPCB and approved by a state committee. Enterprises setting up facilities for captive use are also excluded from the definition of an eligible institution.

Ineligible expenditure is listed expressly: cost of land and land development, goodwill fees, commissioning fees, royalty, capitalised interest, transportation equipment and vehicles, and working capital.

What infrastructure spending qualifies?

Expenditure incurred towards infrastructure facilities is eligible, and the resolution names them: internal roads, a substation to draw power for the requirement of the green estate, power distribution lines, communication facilities, water distribution lines, sewage and drainage lines, effluent treatment and disposal facilities, and other facilities as may be approved by the State Level supported Committee for the green estate.

Project cost, for the purpose of the 25% calculation, means the cost as appraised by a financial institution or a project appraising institution as approved by the State Level Committee — not the promoter's own estimate.

How to apply for Green Estate assistance

1. Establish the GPCB case. The relocation or retrofitting of the polluting units must be recommended by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board before anything else happens.
2. Have the professional agency study appointed. The Industries Commissioner appoints the agency on GPCB's recommendation; the agency examines pollution load, effluent quality and the environmental improvement from relocation, and suggests remedial action.
3. Submit the application in the prescribed proforma with the relevant documents to the Industries Commissionerate at Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382017 to before the project is implemented.
4. Present to the screening committee. The Industries Commissioner scrutinises the application in a screening committee that includes the Additional Industries Commissioner, an Under Secretary of the Industries and Mines Department, a Technical Advisor (Chemical), the Chief Engineer of GIDC, the Member Secretary of GCPC, a Senior Environment Engineer from GPCB and an environment expert from PDPU or GTU.
5. Await the State Level supported Committee decision. SLEC is chaired by the ACS or Principal Secretary of the Industries and Mines Department, with members from the Finance Department, GIDC, the Industries Commissionerate, the Forest and Environment Department, GPCB and the Water Resources, Water Supply and Kalpasar Department.
6. Implement the project and file the claim with expenditure documentation for verification, along with the project completion certificate and the undertaking on pending government dues and court cases.

For the sibling common environmental infrastructure component, the Industries Commissionerate has published an indicative service timeline: application in form AF-01 to the Industries Commissionerate office and the District Industries Centre before implementation; review by the IC office within 60 days, with a presentation if required; the decision conveyed within 8 days of State Level Committee approval; and payment within 15 days of the claim being found in order. Green Estate proposals follow the same offices.

How is assistance released?

Assistance under the resolution is released against verified expenditure, and for the common environmental infrastructure facilities component the resolution requires disbursement only after submission of the project completion certificate and the ISO 14001 certificate. The institution must also furnish an undertaking regarding pending government dues and pending court cases against Government, boards and corporations. Detailed guidelines for the schemes are issued separately by the Industries Commissionerate.

Common reasons proposals fail

• No GPCB recommendation. Without it the relocation has no statutory basis and the file cannot proceed.
• Application filed after implementation began. The scheme requires application before the project is implemented.
• Land cost inside the claim. Land and land development are ineligible and are struck out, often collapsing the arithmetic of a proposal.
• Unappraised project cost. Only a cost appraised by a financial or appraising institution and approved by the State Level Committee counts.
• Applicant not an eligible institution, or an enterprise applying for captive use.
• Pending government dues or litigation not disclosed in the undertaking.

Where to get help

• Industries Commissionerate, Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382017 to +91 79 23252619, +91 79 23252689, +91 79 23252682.
• Email: icjciim@gujarat.gov.in, icioim@gujarat.gov.in, icim@gujarat.gov.in, as published on the Industries Commissionerate scheme page.
• Gujarat Pollution Control Board for the recommendation that starts the process.
• Investor Facilitation Portal, ifp.gujarat.gov.in, for the text of the Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020 scheme resolutions.

This is an institutional infrastructure scheme. No individual receives money under it, and any offer to arrange a personal grant under the Green Estate scheme should be treated as fraudulent.