Expeditious recovery of compensatory levies in respect of proposal approved under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.. CIRCULAR 10.10.2019

January 14, 2024

CIRCULAR

Subject:- Expeditious recovery of compensatory levies in respect of proposal approved under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
The approval of the Competent Authority is accorded in two stages under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The final approval is accorded only after the compliance of the conditions stipulated in the in-principle approval. In this context, Rule 8 of the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Rules, 2014 may be referred, which reads as under.
Rule-8 (1) (b):- On receipt of a copy of the in-principle approval, the Divisional Forest Officer shall prepare a demand note containing item-wise amount of compensatory levies such as cost of creation and maintenance of compensatory afforestation, Net Present Value (NPV), cost of the implementation of catchment area treatment plan or wildlife conservation plan etc. to be paid by the User Agency and communicate the same, along with a list of documents, certificates and undertakings required to be submitted by the User Agency in compliance with the conditions stipulated in the in-principle approval to the User Agency within ten days of the receipt of a copy of the in-principle approval.
2. In order to ensure Expeditious recovery of compensatory levies, a proforma for the Demand Note was prescribed vide the Circular referred above. However, under the present system, the DCF communicates the Demand Note to the User Agency, which in turn uploads the same online to get it verified from the Nodal Office. After receiving the said Demand Note from the User Agency via online, the Nodal Office verifies the Demand Note and the User Agency can deposit the compensatory levies only after getting the confirmation from the Nodal Office through the online system.
3.The above practice not only causes undue delay but also appears to be
troublesome for User Agency which remains uncertain about the exact amount towards the compensatory levies.
4. In order to address this problem and to enable the User Agency to know the
5. appropriate and exact Amount in one-go, it is hereby directed that the coordinating DCF shall prepare the Demand Note in the proforma appended with this Circular and get it ratified by this Office through E-mail within five days. After the Demand Note so
proposed by the DCF is ratified by this Office, he shall communicate the same to the User Agency.
For removal of doubts, it is clarified that the proposals involving more than one Divisions or Circles, the Demand Note should only be prepared by the coordinating Division or Circle, as the case may be. In no case, the user Agency be given more than one Demand Note for the same project.
6. The DCF must ensure that the compensatory levies under different Heads are accurately worked out in accordance with prevailing rates and are in conformity with the specifications mentioned in the proposal
7. The Proforma prescribed vide the Circular under reference stands modified accordingly.
8. This Circular is available on web link
Enclosure:- Proforma for the Demand Note