The Coal Ministry has written to the Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) for streamlining granting of clearances by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for various coal mining projects in the country.

The Coal Ministry has asked the CCI to consider parallel processing of environmental clearance (EC) and forest clearance (FC) for coal projects as in the case of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects. “Further, the issue of enhanced borehole density for exploration in forest areas without the need for seeking prior EC needs to be resolved urgently,” the Coal Ministry note states.