Between 2020 and 2025, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), India’s apex environmental court, ruled in favour of industrial developers in four out of every five cases concerning environmental and forest clearances. This represents a sharp departure from 2016–2019, when relief for both citizen appeals and project proponents hovered between 18% and 31%.
Analysis of over 100,000 NGT orders shows that of 329 appeals filed by citizens and activists challenging government-granted environmental clearances, only 65, or 20%, were successful. In contrast, when developers contested government rejections of their projects, relief was granted in nearly 80% of cases, with 126 out of 160 appeals ruled in their favour.
Concentration of Cases and Types of Projects
Most cases were heard by the tribunal’s five benches located in Delhi, Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata, and Chennai, primarily dealing with air and water pollution, as well as coastal zone regulations. Projects affected included major industrial and infrastructure undertakings such as Adani Petronet (Dahej) Port, Vedanta, Jindal Power, Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd, Honnavar Port Pvt Ltd, Oil India, NHAI, NBCC, Alang shipyard, Ultratech Cement, Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited, and large mines including Singrauli, Dipka, and Parsa East-Kanta Basan. Power projects such as Khurja super thermal and the Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydel project were also among those where citizen appeals failed.
Among the 65 citizen appeals that succeeded were cases against mining near the Taj Mahal, a Godrej Properties housing project in Bengaluru, a Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited project in Karnataka, marble mines near Rajasthan’s Bandh-Baretha sanctuary, and a greenfield captive jetty project near Paradeep Port, Odisha.
Challenges for Citizens and Critiques of NGT
Experts have raised concerns over the apparent tilt. Debi Goenka, founder of the Mumbai-based Conservation Action Trust, noted that many citizen appeals are dismissed on technical grounds, often as “time-barred” for exceeding the 90-day filing limit, while industrial proponents with legal teams easily navigate deadlines.
Retired IAS officer and activist EAS Sarma cautioned against simplistic metrics but acknowledged that the legal and documentary weight of corporate appeals often determines outcomes.
Environmental lawyer Ritwik Dutta highlighted the deterrent effect of adverse rulings, noting that while appeals to High Courts or the Supreme Court remain possible, the prolonged litigation process discourages many, particularly smaller citizen groups.
Judicial Perspective on Sustainable Development
The tribunal, established under the NGT Act of 2010, was envisioned as a guardian of environmental justice, a role reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 2021. Former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta, speaking at the Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute in Rajasthan, urged the judiciary to balance development with sustainability, emphasising that judges must care for the environment while enabling progress.
Industry Appeals Often Succeed
The tribunal also handled 159 appeals filed by developers against government rejection or cancellation of environmental or forest clearances. Of these, 126 succeeded, including projects such as NTPC Ltd Pakri Barwadih Coal Mining, STP Limited, and Indotech Waste Solution, highlighting the pro-industry trend in NGT rulings during this period.
As this pattern continues, critics warn that the Tribunal’s original mandate to uphold public interest and environmental protection risks being overshadowed by industrial priorities, raising pressing questions about the future of environmental governance in India.
