After delinking the environment and forest clearances for highway projects, the environment ministry is mulling over a proposal to relax clearance norms for hydro-power projects.

The ministry is considering a proposal that allows hydro-power projects to initiate the forest clearance process without even completing comprehensive river basin study.

Work on underpasses to create long-term assets

The UPA government's flagship social sector programme — the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) — will now be able to create permanent infrastructure assets, giving the seven-year-old scheme providing livelihood to almost 5 crore families annually an altogether new direction. The rural development ministry has decided to include building railway underpasses under the ambit of NREGS. An official announcement is expected shortly.

In an attempt to fast-track coal production, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has decided to allow companies with mining leases to expand production by 25% over the initially approved plan, without having to secure a fresh environment clearance (EC) from the ministry.

The move will help companies avoid the cumbersome process of getting EC approvals — which includes public hearings that may take up to three years — for their first expansion. For subsequent expansions, however, a new EC will be required.

New Delhi The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has defended its position on the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) report citing delayed green nods that has hindered coal production. The ministry said it gave clearances in excess of what was required and projects are pending as these clearances are still unultilised.

The ministry claims to have given clearances worth 2.71 lakh MW of power capacity of which only 55,000 MW have been used till now. Further, it claims to have cleared 800 mt of coal against current demand of 436 mt. The ministry also said that most of the projects didn't furnish information related to coal linkages, acreage and sulphur content which delayed the green nods.

New Delhi In a major step towards women empowerment, the Centre is planning a new legislation that will make the woman of the house the chief beneficiary of the compensation for land acquired for mining projects. According to officials in the mining ministry, the move will not only ensure the compensation amount is spent wisely but also give women a bigger role in financial decision-making.

The draft new Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011 — which is currently being vetted by a parliamentary standing committee — provides for sharing of 26% of profit by coal miners and an amount equivalent to royalty by others (in case of other minerals) with project-affected people. The money is to be distributed to beneficiaries through a District Mineral Development Fund.

New Delhi Power plants using less-polluting washed coal— with ash content not exceeding 34% and gross calorific value not less than 4,000 Kcal/kg on a daily average basis — may get faster environment clearances from 2014.

The move, which will benefit power projects of more than 100 MW, comes in the wake of the recent nationwide power outages for which the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) was also blamed, given its failure to give timely green clearances for projects. Although the immediate reason for the recent collapse of power grids could be reckless overdrawal of power by states, what lies beneath the flouting of grid code is a widening demand-supply gap for power.

New Delhi Says commerce ministry’s suggestion for change in norms will only facilitate ‘land grabbing by pvt sector’

Finance ministry has strongly opposed the proposal to further liberalise the norms for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), saying the commerce ministry’s suggestion will only facilitate “land grabbing by the private sector”. The commerce ministry recently sought relaxation in the minimum area requirement and the land contiguity norms for SEZs in a bid to prop up export growth from these zones. Growth in exports from SEZs is still in double digits, but lower than overall export growth, raising questions over the need for these enclaves that enjoy sundry tax sops

New Delhi As part of its submissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), India has sought an increase in the level of ambition by the developed or Annex-I countri

New Delhi Applying for environment and forest clearances could become easier with the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) saying it would now entertain online applications. Allowing companies to submit project proposals online would also make the process for clearances transparent. Smaller projects that get screened, appraised and cleared by the states will be able to get clearances faster due to the new process.

New Delhi The Indian forest cover has shrunk. And there is no one to announce the data, as environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan has not found time to release it.

The silence is in tune with the way the ministry of environment and forests has worked in the last five months after the new minister took over. The release of the India State of Forest Report-2011 was deferred in December. Natarajan is yet to set a date for the release of the report, a key component of macro-economic policy-making for the government and the industry. Natarajan has maintained her silence even after returning from the ministerial level climate change conference at Durban in early December.