PERMITS AND OBSTACLES FOR HYDRO

Environmental permits:
Environmental clearance from The Ministry of Forest and Environment (MOEF) before
the power plant is set up (EIA Notification 2006)
Consent to establish from the respective state pollution control board (Water (Prevention
and Control of Pollution) Act 1974
Labour permits:
Registration under the Buildings and other Construction Workers (Regulation of
Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1996.
Registration of the proposed design and construction of the power plant under the
Factories Act 1948.
Registration of all foreign nationals employed for construction/supervision activities for
the project under the Registration of Foreigners Rules 1992.
If contract labour is to be employed at the project site for construction activities a
certificate of registration must be obtained from the relevant Labour Department under
the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970.
If a certain percentage of workers have been hired from outside the state where the power
project is located, the generating company must acquire a registration under the Inter
State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act 1979.
In addition to these approvals, registration may be required under the Employees'
Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952, Payment of Gratuity Act 1972,
Maternity Benefit Act 1961, Employee State Insurance Act 1948, and so on
The main obstacles to the development of Renewable Energy
The main obstacles to the development of renewable energy include:
Lack of co-ordinated policy. Renewable energy development has been largely driven by
separate and not fully co-ordinated central and state policies.
Project financing. Securing timely financing for the projects has been one of the main
challenges for this sector. Higher interest rates and shorter loan terms has increased the
cost of power projects.
High investment cost. Projects in this sector are capital intensive requiring high capital
investment. In addition, declining tariffs prove to be a challenge.
Lack of infrastructure. Inadequate evacuation infrastructure and grid interconnections
are one of the biggest barriers to harnessing renewable energy potential.
 Renewable purchase obligations (RPO) enforcement. Currently, the enforcement of
RPOs across states is inconsistent and a number of state distribution utilities have failed
to honour their RPOs.
REC regime. The REC market has not been successful to date.