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.