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ARTICLE · 23 OCTOBER 2026

Understanding Vanashakti’s Ramifications From A Real Estate Standpoint

Sarthak Advocates & Solicitors
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Sarthak Advocates & Solicitors

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Between early 2025 and mid-July 2026, the Supreme Court settled a question that had kept real estate developers across India on edge: can a project that broke ground without environmental clearance (‘EC’) ever be regularised after the fact? Across a series of rulings culminating in Vanashakti II, the Court clarified the legal status of ex post facto EC’s and spelt out what they mean for projects already built, those still under construction and those yet to leave the drawing board.

IndiaEnvironment
Anil Khanna
Anil Khanna
Nirmal John
Nirmal John
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Between early 2025 and mid-July 2026, the Supreme Court settled a question that had kept real estate developers across India on edge: can a project that broke ground without environmental clearance (‘EC’) ever be regularised after the fact? Across a series of rulings culminating in Vanashakti II, the Court clarified the legal status of ex post facto EC’s  and spelt out what they mean for projects already built, those still under construction and those yet to leave the drawing board.

Under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, (‘EIA Notification’), obtaining a prior EC is mandatory for specified projects including building and construction projects above a specified built-up area, before any construction work or preparation of land begins. Over time, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (‘MoEFCC’) introduced two mechanisms to deal with projects that had started without a valid EC: (i) The 2017 Notification

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