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.