Context: Recently, Raksha Mantri launched a new web portal for issue of No Objection Certificate (NOC) for power projects.
Key Points

• The new portal was launched for the issue of No Objection Certificate (NOC) for power projects and Research Survey Exploration Exploitation (RSEE) activities in the Indian Territorial Waters (TW) and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) accords security clearances to various private/Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)/Government organisations for power/wind/solar projects in areas nearby defence installations and also RSEE activities in the Indian TW and EEZ for applications received through different Ministries like Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Ministry of Power, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Ministry of Shipping, Director General of Hydrocarbons, etc.
• To ensure ease of business and transparency in issuing NOC for such projects, the Ministry has developed the online application portal with the assistance of National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG) and National Informatics Centre (NIC).
• The newly developed MoD web portal will facilitate the applicants in submitting their proposals online for seeking MoD Security Clearance for undertaking Power Projects/RSEE activities.
• The Online System will establish an effective, speedy and transparent mechanism to process these proposals.
• The Ministry had earlier launched a similar portal for grant of NOC for aerial survey.

About Exclusive Economic Zone

• An EEZ is a sea zone prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) over which a sovereign state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind.
• It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles (nmi) from its coast.
• The term does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 200 nmi limit.
• The territorial sea confers full sovereignty over the waters, whereas the EEZ is merely a sovereign right which refers to the coastal state’s rights below the surface of the sea.