Under the 1986 law, the government must conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to study a project’s impact on the environment before granting approval. By November 2025, more than 150 projects had been granted retrospective clearances, reflecting the magnitude of the violations of environmental law. Then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi alleged corruption in the granting of environmental clearances, calling it a Jayanthi Natarajan tax, named after the then environment minister. After the BJP’s victory in 2014, the Narendra Modi government introduced a six-month, one-time amnesty scheme in March 2017 for securing retrospective approvals. The government should, however, ensure that officials do not resort to retrospective approvals as a matter of routine, while industry should design its projects to be in harmony with nature.