
Introduction
On March 17, 2025, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) notified a pivotal amendment to India’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006. This amendment reversed a four-year-long exemption granted to certain excavation activities carried out for linear infrastructure projects, such as roads, pipelines, and transmission lines. The change introduces a new Appendix XIV to the EIA Notification, formally defining “linear projects” and setting out standard operating procedures (SOPs) and safeguards that must be followed when sourcing or borrowing “ordinary earth” for such works. The revised position replaces the controversial Item 6 of Appendix IX, which was introduced via the 2020 amendment and was later struck down by the Supreme Court of India.Continue Reading Linear Projects No Longer Exempted Under EIA Notification