Ahead of a Pranab Mukherjee-chaired group of ministers (GoM) meet on Friday, environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh has climbed down from his consistently firm and stated position by agreeing to relax the comprehensive environment pollution index (CEPI), that in turn will free up a string of 16 coal projects.

According to sources, Ramesh has agreed to increase the CEPI threshold to 75 p