New Delhi: In a bid to fast-track the process of environmental and forest clearances (EC and FC) for thermal power projects, power companies will have to furnish details about the quality of coal, such as its calorific value, sulphur content and ash content, in the initial environment management plan (EMP).

“In case of thermal power projects, which are dependent on domestic coal supply from the basket of mines of Coal India with valid EC/FC, proposals for environmental clearance would be considered, if the information on the coal quality parameters, that is, calorific value, sulphur content and ash content in respect of the mines in the basket, is provided in the EIA/EMP report,” the environment ministry said in a circular today.

Bhubaneswar: Unmindful of the continuing protests against the Posco project, the state government is moving ahead to acquire as much land as possible within a month for the South Korean steel major to begin construction work, sources said on Tuesday. Posco requires a total of 2,700 acres of land to begin work, said sources.

At least 14 platoons of armed police forces have been deployed in the Dhinkia area to crush the agitation by villagers unwilling to gice up their land. “If needed, more police forces would be sent,” said a government official. The government’s action is being seen in many quarters as illegal as the project does not have an environment clearance (EC).

Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan declared that there was no bottleneck in green clearances, and made public the status of various projects, as she sought to counter barbs from companies and colleagues in the government about alleged delays in clearances.

“My object in giving all the details is to show that there is no delay in terms of processing. There is no bottleneck in this ministry and all projects that can be cleared have been cleared and we are not a bottleneck by any stretch of imagination,” Natarajan said.

The environment ministry is hardly a “green roadblock ministry” as is being made out by the PMO.

The MoEF’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects considered a total of 262 hydropower and irrigation projects in the last six years and green signalled every single one of them. Contrary to the PMO’s claims, not a single project has been rejected. This means that between 2007 and December 30 2012, stage 1 clearance was given for hydropower projects with an installed capacity of 48,456 MW which is 25 per cent more than what India has installed in 66 years of independence.

BHUBANESWAR: Widespread resentment is growing against the state government for suddenly sending armed police forces to suppress agitating villagers and acquire their lands for the Posco project which has been entangled in a host of litigations. The government renewed the process of land acquisition for the South Korean steel giant on Sunday even though the National Green Tribunal had earlier suspended the final environmental clearance (EC) given to it by the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF).

Hundreds of police forces swooped down on Gobindapur village early on Sunday morning and seized the entire area from all sides as officials started pulling down betel vines, one of the major source of livelihood for the local tribals. The government had earlier conducted a similar exercise and claimed to have taken possession of over 2,000 acres of land from the villagers.

The first phase of Posco’s $12-billion Orissa project — India’s single-largest foreign direct investment — could start churning out steel by 2018, three persons with direct knowledge of the develop

South Asia Network on Dams Rivers and People (SANDRP), an advocacy group, has claimed that the Expert Approval Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) on River Valley and H