Modernizing impact assessment law requires stronger quality assurance, stakeholder confidence, and regulatory efficiency to ensure credible assessments and sustainable environmental outcomes.
Environmental Impact Assessment plays a critical role in balancing India's infrastructure, industrial, and energy development with environmental sustainability. The effectiveness of this regulatory framework depends significantly on the competence, credibility, and accountability of environmental consultants preparing EIA reports. This paper highlights consultant accreditation as an essential component of Environmental Regulatory Quality Infrastructure, drawing upon India's experience with the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) accreditation scheme. The NABET scheme has transformed a previously unregulated consultancy ecosystem into a structured, competency-based framework promoting transparency, professional accountability, and continuous quality improvement. With 256 accredited consultant organisations supporting environmental assessments nationwide, the scheme has strengthened institutional capacity and quality assurance in environmental decision-making. Complemented by government initiatives such as the PARIVESH single-window clearance system, India's regulatory framework has become more efficient, with average environmental clearance processing time declining to 64 days in 2022, below the prescribed limit of 105 days. Between January 2025 and September 2026, the Ministry approximately 17,554 environmental clearances, reflecting the scale of regulatory activity. The paper argues that integrating professional accreditation, digital governance, competency-based assessments, and continuous monitoring can strengthen environmental regulation.
With over 30 years of experience in higher education, Dr Kanwar currently serves as CEO of QCI-NABET, leading accreditation and quality assurance across environment, education, and training.