In response to requests received from various state governments, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Planning Commission, the MoE&F has decided to permit state governments to clear projects of upto 50 hectares of forest land for critical public utility infrastructure projects in 60 left-wing extremist affected districts without reference to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The present threshold limit for such diversion is 2 hectares and this is not being increased to 5 hectares across the board.
Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/reports-documents/press-release-regarding-clearance-projects-critical-public-utility-infrastructure
[2] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/publisher/ministry-environment-forests
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/naxalites
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/forests
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/infrastructure-development
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/forest-act-1980
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/india
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/andhra-pradesh
[9] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/bihar
[10] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/chhattisgarh
[11] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/jharkhand
[12] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/madhya-pradesh
[13] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/maharashtra
[14] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/orissa
[15] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/uttar-pradesh
[16] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/west-bengal